


falling in love again

by knightswatch



Category: Free!
Genre: Alpha!Sousuke, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Bullying, Childhood Friends, Dance Instructor Ai, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Growing Up Together, Idol/Popstar AU, Lazy Mornings, M/M, Mechanical Arms, Omega!Nitori, Omegaverse, Size Difference, Steampunk AU, Student/Teacher AU, boyfriend shirt, sourintori
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-03-25 21:01:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 26,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3824953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightswatch/pseuds/knightswatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soutori drabbles! Warnings/ratings posted per chapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Know What You Are?

Sousuke Yamazaki was not a morning person. He didn't particularly relish sleeping in until the sun streaked over his face and blinded him as soon as he opened his eyes either, but it was still preferable to the first few moments of awareness brought on by the screeching of an alarm clock or Rin clunking noisily around the room as he prepared for a run. This morning he wasn't awoken by either of those things though, instead it was a tickling feeling against his good shoulder, soft like the futtering of a moth's wings against his skin.

He opened his eyes if only to check that he hadn't become a roost for some crawling bug and was met with a head of silver hair ghosting against his bare skin. He blinked lazily, his hand squeezing against the warm fabric as his mind struggled to catch up with what was going on. Ai nuzzled closer to him once again, the motion that must have awoken him originally, and he actually smiled as the realization dawned on him. He was still fast asleep it seemed, which was its own blessing because Ai seemed to bounce out of bed with the level of steadfast energy that he carried with him the whole day. It wasn't overwhelming exactly, but it was unnerving to see someone wake up and be actually bright eyed and bushy tailed.

He planned to let Ai continue to sleep, and maybe doze off again himself when he looked down at his peaceful face. Until he noticed two things; he was wearing one of Sousuke's shirts and probably nothing else, and he had the most charming bedhead that he had ever seen. It was a surprise, Ai's hair was usually enviably smooth, even when he'd just popped out of the pool and pulled his swim cap off. It was curled into the air, sticking up at wild angles and Sousuke blushed a little just looking at it. It wasn't fair that anything could be cute enough to make it actually worth being up in the mornings.

He lifted his hand, smoothing Ai's hair down and laughing as it sprung stubbornly up again. He'd meant to keep quiet, he really did. But Ai was sleeping basically on top of him and the shaking of his chest and rumble of his laughter made his eyes flutter open, looking up at Sousuke with a sweet smile.

"Good morning Sousuke-senpai," his voice was still cloudy with sleep and he rest his chin on Sousuke's chest, blinking at the wide grin on his face. "You're not usually so happy to be awake."

Sousuke shrugged, trying to bite his grin down and keep the secret of Ai's wonderfully terrible bedhead to himself, instead letting one of his hands slip under the hem of the shirt instead, tracing up the back of his soft thigh before resting at the dip of his back, thumb stroking the bottom of his spine. "You stole my clothes."

"And you sound terribly offended by that fact," Ai giggled softly, pressing a kiss to Sousuke's shoulder. He rolled his eyes at the morning sass, continuing to trace his hand over bare skin and lean his head back so he wasn't tempted to burst into another fit of laughter, staring at the ceiling and quietly deciding that the sun didn't have to be up for the light to get caught in his eyes. He blinked for a second before his own cheesy thinking made him groan a little, Ai sitting up further to tilt his head. "Everything alright?"

"Rin is rubbing off on me," he lamented, lifting his head again to plant a kiss on Ai's forehead in a way that never failed to make him blush. He was leaning on his elbows, staring at Sousuke's face curiously while the loose collar of the shirt drooped traitorusly off one of his pale shoulders. There was a freckle on it and Sousuke kissed that too, thumb pressing the dimples on the back of his hips. "I'm becoming a sap. Soon I'll start crying at cherry blossoms in pools and giving terribly thought out relationship advice."

Ai rolled his eyes now, giggling a little and shaking his head. Really it wasn't Rin who was giving him all of these embarrasingly gooey thoughts and making his stomach do that uncomfortably swooping thing when Ai flashed his teeth in a smile, but complaining about the real source of those feelings meant admitting them outloud and that... He wasn't sure if he was prepared for.

"What terrible advice has he been giving?" Ai laughed softly, his fingers tracing a lazy path over the muscles of Sousuke's chest. He breathed in a little deeper, making the contact more solid as his body expanded when he filled it with air. Sousuke blinked softly at the question then shrugged, looking away a little.

"A-all of Rin's advice is terrible," he retorted after a silence that stretched a little too long. Ai hummed softly but the look in his blue eyes was too bright to fool Sousuke into thinking he'd fallen for that. He dropped his head back to the bed, staring at the ceiling again and trying not to let his face heat up. "He said I should ask you out by doing the whole second button thing."

"I don't think that's terrible," Ai giggled, poking at Sousuke's chest when he refused to lift his head. "It would've been romantic."

"It would've meant waiting until my last day here," he grumbled, his hand tightening on Ai's back. He didn't like talking about the future and Ai laid his head back down, draping his arm over Sousuke's chest in an approximation of a hug.

"I think you did fine on your own," he smiled and Sousuke grunted, rolling on his side so he could tuck Ai more firmly against his chest, kissing his exposed shoulder once again.

"You can keep the shirt. It looks good," he grumbled, considering stealing all of Ai's clothes and giving him only oversized t-shirts that smelled like his own soap and laundry detergent to wear. He closed his eyes with a little sigh, resting his cheek against the top of Ai's head and grinning as he recalled the bedhead. "So is there some product you use in your hair that makes it smooth? Because I think you should keep it like this."

Ai shot out of his arms with a blink, rooting around next to the pillow for his phone and pulling up the camera with an exasperated groan, ducking his head shyly. "It's because it was wet when we went to sleep!"

"Well don't shower so late," Sousuke smirked as he looked up at him, hand dropping from his back to trace the outside of his hip. "Or don't. I like it."

Ai smacked the center of his chest with an exasperated sound before cuddling back into Sousuke's embrace. "Shut up. I'll fix it later."

"Yeah. Later's good," he smiled, nuzzling the bridge of his nose against Ai's head and closing his eyes once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so it's more waking up/bedhead focused than straight boyfriend shirt.


	2. A Subtle Dagger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: Omegaverse. Warning for mentions of bullying and violence.

Sousuke is 7 years old the first time he meets Ai; crumpled on the ground with tears staining his pale cheeks and a scuffed knee because another boy pushed him over. Sousuke hesitates, staring down at the blood running down the side of his leg, trying to wipe tears away from his too-blue eyes and something unfamiliar rises up from the pit of his stomach and makes him punch the other boy in the nose and sit down next to Ai after he runs away to tell a teacher. Ai looks at him and sniffles before taking Sousuke's hand in his and using the other to scrub tears away. The teacher calls his mom in and they laugh about how he's sure to be an alpha with a reaction like that before scolding him not to hit again.

He sticks close to Ai after that, fostering the pale boy who he couldn't fight the urge to go out of his way to protect. It doesn't bother him really, Ai was nice company even if he talked too much and always wanted Sousuke to hold his hand. He didn't throw tantrums or pick on Sousuke for being quiet or infrequent with his smiles. His parents start letting Ai come over after school and on weekends and Sousuke smiles just a little bit more often, if only to see the way it makes Ai's whole face light up when he does.

*

It's his last day of junior high and two months ago he presented as an alpha. It wasn't really a surprise, people had been telling him since he was a child that he was bound to be an alpha and he was already growing into the role. He was the tallest boy in his class and it feels like his shoulders are getting broader by the day, and they flex perfectly for swimming butterfly. The growth spurt makes him swim even faster and Sousuke is pleased with the changes to his body rather than annoyed by them. At least for the most part.

Ai catches him sitting down outside to have his lunch, draping his body over Sousuke's back with a whine, chin resting in the crook of his shoulder so his lips are a scant few inches away from Sousuke's ear. He doesn't flinch from the sudden contact, nor does he lift his head up. Ai always hangs off him, it isn't really a surprise. It is uncomfortable though, the way it makes his chest feel tight and his skin itch to have warmth pressed so close through his shirt.

"What am I gonna do when I'm all alone next year?" Ai pouts, his voice is soft as ever and Sousuke can hear the way his smile crinkles the corners of his eyes and he can't help but frown down at his food, glad Ai can't see it. He has a grumpy face, sometimes people tease him about it.

"It's not like I'll be far away," he reasons, shifting his shoulder so he can actually look at Ai while he talks. It's probably a mistake; since he presented having Ai so close to him makes his heart hammer and his hands feel clumsy. It's stupid, Ai has been his best friend for years and there's no reason he should feel so uncomfortable with the contact. He fell asleep with his head on Sousuke's lap two days ago when the swim team took a trip for a meet in a different part of the prefecture, his body small enough that he could curl his legs up in the seat and fit perfectly. He doesn't like the idea of leaving Ai behind; the elementary school and junior high share a building so they had basically been together since meeting despite the difference in age. "Besides, we live close by."

It makes him nervous, even if he's currently trying to reason with Ai that it's not a big deal. He breathes in deeply as if he's going to sigh then blinks his eyes. Something smells... different and he's fairly sure it's Ai. He could smell Ai a little since he presented but he never really smelled _like_ anything. Now there's the barest smell of freshly baked cookies and cinnamon tickling against Sousuke's nose and he loses his train of thought entirely.

He tries breathing in through his mouth to see it helps clear his head out and it's only worse because now he can taste that smell on his tongue and he has to look away from Ai back down at his lunch. Ai shrugs his shoulders and undrapes himself from Sousuke's back to sit next to him, close enough that their legs touch. He says something else that Sousuke can't quite catch because his mind is screaming at him to press his face right into Ai's neck and breathe that scent in and never move again. He's drawn away from the thought when Ai pokes his temple gently.

"Did you hear me Sousuke-chan?" He asks with a laugh as Sousuke shakes his head. He kicks his legs out in front of him, legs smooth and unbroken in his shorts, socks pulled up over his calves. "I said I think it probably won't be so bad, I'll be alright by myself. You and Rin-chan are going to the same school right?"

Sousuke nods, slumping just a little so his shoulder brushes against Ai's. The winds shifted and he can't smell him anymore and it makes Sousuke wonder if Ai's starting to present as a beta. His mom had said that beta's usually presented pretty easily since there were no big changes other than their scent glands maturing. She had also told them both that beta's usually had a mild scent like both of Ai's parents. The scent Sousuke had caught off of Ai was not mild. His nerves were back in full force and this time he did sigh. "You won't be by yourself, don't be dramatic."

Ai laughs at that, shaking his head and giving Sousuke's shoulder a gentle nudge, breaking a cookie from his lunch in half and giving the bigger piece over to Sousuke. "You know what I mean! Rei-kun and Nagisa-kun don't count the same way you do."

"That's because I don't let anyone pick on you," he smiles a little himself, blushing just a little at the cookie before eating it. He says it to tease, even if it's partially true. Ai was an attractive target for bullies, he always had been. He had girly good looks and cried a little too easy, he was terminally skinny and even if he swam just as fiercely as Sousuke he didn't pack on muscle the same way. Ai's cheeks flush a little before he shakes his head, dropping it to lay on Sousuke's shoulder with a shy smile.

"It's because you're my best friend, dummy," he didn't comment on being picked on. Sousuke wasn't surprised, he never said anything about it anyways. He caught just a hint of Ai's scent again and was caught between leaning closer and trying to get away. He was saved by Rin who looked at Ai with a kind of surprised face, blinking at him before smiling bright and wicked.

"You smell weird today," he laughs as Ai's cheeks flush just a little, taking the last bit of bench on his other side. Rin had only presented a week ago, pretending he didn't cry when Sousuke was an alpha before him. Now he was nudging himself close to Ai's other side, forcing Ai to shift closer to Sousuke who couldn't help the way he froze. Ai looked between them, blinking and lifting his wrist and sniffing at it with a raised eyebrow.

"I can't tell," he grumbles softly, blinking and lifting his arm towards Sousuke's face. Sousuke blushes crimson, leaning back quickly from his wrist. He doesn't mean to and he curses himself for the way it makes Ai's face fall tragically. “Is it that bad?”

“I don't think so,” Rin offers, raising an eyebrow at Sousuke's weirdness. Ai blinks, sniffing at his own skin again before his teeth worry the swell of his bottom lip.

“Maybe I should go down to see the nurse. I might be getting sick; I had a fever this morning,” he continues nibbling at his lip as he thinks, teeth digging white indents in the petal pink flesh. It makes Sousuke's skin itch to watch so he looks away and shrugs before starting to pack his picked at food away.

“I'll walk with you,” he offers offhandedly, letting Ai's pleased expression wash him back into smiling. He would have done it even if the idea of sending Ai off alone smelling delicious and feeling feverish didn't make his heart beat speed up.

He doesn't carry Ai's bag on the way there though he does think about offering. Instead, he leans against the wall while the nurse sticks a thermometer in his mouth and crosses his arms over his chest when she sniffs at his arm as well. Her lips purse together before she steps away from the small cot, excusing herself to make a phone call. Ai looks at Sousuke, shifting the glass under his tongue so he can speak.

"Do I really smell bad?" He asks, sounding a little shy again. Sousuke sighs before shaking his head and holding a hand out. Ai lifts his arm up again and seems inordinately pleased to have Sousuke sniff at the small gland under his skin. His mouth nearly waters at the smell and he just shrugs his shoulders and looks away.

"It's not bad," he confirms, looking down at Ai's curious expression with his lips tilted upwards. "You smell like cookies."

Ai giggles at that, looking up as the nurse brushes back in to check his temperature before tutting her tongue and looking up at Sousuke with a conflicted expression. "You can head to class now Yamazaki-kun."

He blinks, glancing at Ai again and hesitating. It's not that he's worried anything is particularly wrong with him, he just... Something inside him makes him not want to leave. The nurse gives him a gentle nudge and an encouraging smile.

"Aiichirou-kun is fine, I just need to speak with him privately," she nods her head at the door and Sousuke slinks out with a sigh, glaring as it closes behind him and making his way to class with a deep frown.

Ai isn't waiting around the pool when he finishes class like Sousuke expects him to be. Even if practice is over for the year, it's their unofficial meeting place so they can walk home together. Sousuke waits almost half an hour before walking home by himself, every footstep heavy and grim. It's not the first time he's gone home by himself, and Ai did think he was getting sick so his dad had probably just come and picked him up rather than making him walk. He follows the branch that leads away from his house, knocking on the door to Ai's and shuffling his foot against the ground.

It's Ai's father that answers, pushing the tousled silver hair out of his face with one wiry hand. He looks surprised to see Sousuke standing there and he pulls the door most of the way shut behind him before breaking into an uneasy smile. "Sousuke-kun! Aiichirou isn't feeling well so I gave him a ride home."

"I figured, I just wanted to check on him. Is everything okay?" He pushes his hands into his pockets, not bothering to mask his concerned tone. Ai's parents don't tease him for being worried so he doesn't pretend that he's not. Ai's father shifts a little and it makes the door pull forward further. Air comes rushing out of the house with it and Sousuke is smacked in the face by the most delicious thing he's ever smelled in his life. It's the same as the hints that drifted off of Ai's skin earlier in the day but magnified until it makes Sousuke want to shove the lanky beta out of his way and hunt the source of it down. He growls from deep in his chest, taking a step forward and blinking when the door clicks shut all the way. He blinks the smell clearing out of his brain for a second, leaving him feeling confused. "S-sorry Nitori-san."

"That's alright," he sounds a little more nervous than before. "I'll make sure he calls you once he's feeling well again, okay? I'm sorry you can't come in and see him today."

Sousuke nods a little numbly, his eyes still fixed on the door. He's a little desperate to get inside, but the steely look from Ai's father is already making it clear that that's not going to happen unless he does something stupid. Instead Sousuke bows his head politely, turning and walking the rest of the way home in a glum silence.

He doesn't hear from Ai at all for the rest of the week, nor does he see him at the graduation ceremony. His parents are there and they cheer with his own when he gets his diploma, but they leave before he can actually ask them if Ai is feeling better.

It's another three days into break until his phone rings with a call from Ai, and Sousuke picks it up embarrassingly quickly. It had become increasingly impossible not to worry though he hadn't gone over to the Nitori house again he'd texted Ai every day to try and get some kind of update.

"Sou-chan!" He squeaks into the phone and Sousuke can't even get made about the childish nickname right away. He sounds like his throat must have been sore, his sweetness tempered by a rough note to his voice. "I'm sorry I didn't get to come see you graduate."

"It was a boring ceremony anyway," he chuckles, leaning back on his bed and feeling like he can actually breathe again for the first time in days. "Are you still sick?"

"Ah- no. I'm fine now. It it okay if I come over?" He sounds a little nervous and Sousuke hums softly.

"Sure. I can walk over there if you want," he offers, raising an eyebrow as Ai squeaks a little.

"N-no! I wanna come over and see you. I'll be right there okay?" He hangs up before Sousuke can give hin an answer and the same tight worried feeling creeps back into his chest. He hopes this isn't how high school is going to be, all the fretting makes him feel drained and he could put more energy into swimming if he had it. He didn't like feeling like he had to worry about Ai all the time, even if he couldn't stop himself from doing it. It takes Ai less than ten minutes before he's knocking on the front door and smiling up at Sousuke as bright as ever.

"I missed you!" He chirps, throwing his arms around Sousuke's sides as soon as he's inside the house, trying to take his shoes off and hug at the same time. Sousuke rolls his eyes and wraps a hand around his back with an agreeing hum, shoving the door shut with his elbow. He likes that Ai is always straightforward with his feelings and easy with his affection, it's always saved Sousuke from trying to figure out what he's supposed to say. Once the door is shut the scent hits him full force and his mouth goes dry. It wasn't as bad as it had been wafting out of the Nitori house, but now it's wrapped entirely around Sousuke and he can't escape from it due to a lucky change in wind. Ai lets go of him, tracing the familiar path to Sousuke's room in his kitty patterned socks. Sousuke trails after him, helpless to do anything else.

"S-so you were sick for a while," he observes once Ai is settled on the floor with his back leaning against the bed. He grabs one of Sousuke's pillows and hugs it against his chest as he nods, laying his chin on top of it.

"I was in heat," his cheeks are pink when he says it, refusing to actually make eye contact. Sousuke blinks at that, sitting on the bed and staring down at the top of his head, trying to formulate something to say. Being in heat would make Ai an omega, not a beta like both of his parents. Meaning that Sousuke had caught the smell of his heat from the house when he had stopped by. The thought makes him shiver and drag his tongue across his lips before he can speak.

"You presented?" He manages, stating the obvious. Ai looks up at him with a nod, cheeks flushed further. He laughs a little, looking at the tv again even though it's not even on.

"Yeah. The nurse had to explain it to my dad because neither of them could recognize it and they sent me home," he shakes his head, hugging Sousuke's pillow closer and nuzzling his face against it. He realizes belatedly that Ai is scenting it, probably because it already smells like Sousuke. It's not an odd thing to do, given how close they are, but it's new and Sousuke isn't sure how he feels about any of this news. He hadn't ever thought of Ai being an omega, it never sounded like a possibility.

"You're gonna be short forever," he manages after a long minute, laughing to himself. Ai had been talking for years about hitting a growth spurt and being as tall and strong as Sousuke. He was a little glad, he liked Ai being small and cute like he was. Even if it was probably strange to be thinking of his best friend as cute. Ai rolls his eyes and throws the pillow he's holding at Sousuke's head.

"Shut up! I could still grow," he pouts, but the corners of his lips are turned upwards and he seems glad. He hugs his knees up to his chest instead, laying his chin on them. "I'm glad you're still a giant jerk. I was worried about telling you."

Sousuke blinks, resisting the urge to press his own face into the pillow before shrugging his shoulders and nudging his ankle against Ai's shoulder instead. "Why would you worry about something like that?"

"My mom said it'll change our relationship, and enough things are already changing already," he looks up now and his eyes are apprehensive, like he's not sure if he's allowed to say what he's thinking. He presses forward anyway, hugging his legs tighter. "I don't wanna stop being your best friend because of something like that."

Sousuke does his best not to blush, dropping so he's sitting on the floor next to Ai, picking up one of the controllers on the floor and rolling his eyes a little. "Don't be stupid."

They play games until it's clear that Ai's grown bored with them and Sousuke puts on a movie that Ai insists he wants to see and ends up sleeping through most of with his head pillowed against Sousuke's shoulder.

He's still yawning and rubbing at his eyes when he decides to walk home, giving Sousuke a fuzzy smile and ignoring the alpha arguing that he shouldn't go alone. Sousuke collapses back into bed after he sends a text saying he's home safe, hugging the pillow that Ai had scented against his head and closing his eyes.

He nuzzles his face closer to the pillow and smiles before his eyes blink open once more. Ai was going to be all alone next year as an omega. He groaned, glaring at the pillow and tossing it away from himself like it hat betrayed him. As if he weren't worried enough. They were never really apart at school, even if Sousuke was a year older and generally only actually saw Ai during lunch and swim club. People knew that they couldn't pick on him without Sousuke knowing and doing something about it and that alone had served as a bulwark.

People who were stupid enough to think he was all bark and no bite had been sorely mistaken in the past, and just thinking about it now made him want to bash his fist into the wall.

*

It's a month into his first year of high school before that nagging worry becomes an actual problem. Ai calls Sousuke, his breath ragged and voice an octave higher than it's supposed to be.

"I-I know this is stupid but um, can you come walk home with me?" He says it too fast and Sousuke hesitates for a moment, trying to piece the sentence together in his head. "P-please Sou-chan, just this once?"

If he wasn't already going to say yes that would have decided for him. Ai rarely called him that and it was usually just to comfort himself. Sousuke hummed against the phone, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"It'll take me a little bit to get there, are you gonna be okay?" His voice is wary when he asks because if something is wrong Ai won't actually say anything about it. Just smile wider and tighter and playfully insult him for all his worrying. Instead, there's the sound of sniffling from the other side of the line.

"Y-yeah. I just.. hurry?" He sounds strained and Sousuke is already slinging his bag over his shoulder and taking off at a jog.

"I'm on my way. If Ryugazaki-kun hasn't left yet make him wait with you," he instructed, listening to Ai talk to Rei with the phone most likely pressed against his chest. Nagisa was probably better company, but Rei's dorky awkwardness would be far less inviting.

"Okay, I'll see you when you get here Sou," his voice is soft and heavy and Sousuke hangs up with his heart hammering far faster than it does for a jog.

Ai is sitting alone on the steps of the pool building when he gets there, eyes puffy and no dorky Megane kid in sight. He simply plops down on the step next to Ai, letting the omega lean his head on his shoulder with a frown. He hesitates before lifting an arm to rub circles on his back.

"I didn't think you'd be here alone," he's trying to steady his breathing before he talks; he'd run most of the way and it had still taken him almost twenty minutes. Ai blinks softly, sagging more of his weight on Sousuke's side and shaking his head.

"Sorry," he mumbles, crossing his arms to cover his stomach with a little frown. "We should go before it gets dark."

Sousuke sighs, lifting his hand away and letting Ai stand before he does. He stumbles as he finds his feet, one hand clutching at his stomach and Sousuke has to fight the urge to pull his shirt up to see whatever he's trying so hard to hide. He can already tell it hurts, tears spring back into Ai's eyes before he snaps his head to the side, leaning to grab his bag.

Sousuke snatches it before he has to bend too far, shaking his head with an annoyed grunt under his breath. Ai frowns at him this time and the walk to his house takes longer than it should usually and by the time they're standing on the porch it actually is dark outside. Ai holds a hand out for his bag and Sousuke just rolls his eyes and pushes the door open.

"Not going home until you tell me what happened," he snaps, kicking his shoes off in the entryway and calling a rushed 'pardon the intrusion'. No one answers and Sousuke narrows his eyes down at the omega before leading him to the couch rather than up the stairs to his room. He sucks in a breath as he sits down, shoulders cringing inwards. "Show me."

"It's not that bad," Ai shakes his head, gripping the bottom of his shirt stubbornly but slumping forward. Sousuke actually growls at that, crossing his arms and refusing to sit down, dropping Ai's bag somewhere behind him.

"I don't understand why you try and protect people who hurt you," he snaps, hands clenching into fists. Ai shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head, doing anything he can not to look Sousuke in the eyes. Without pausing to think he growls again, dropping to the couch and making a conscious effort to release pheromones into the air. "Ai, show me what's wrong."

It's a command and for a second Ai's jaw goes a little slack as he takes in the scent, eyes a little cloudy as he pulls his shirt up over his chest. He turns halfway with a little whine and the blood in Sousuke's veins feels white hot. The bruises on his side are mostly faded but dark enough that they clearly still hurt, the only fresh one is low and close to his hip, shaped in a way that looks suspiciously like a handprint. His eyes skim over the bruising to the words scrawled in black sharpie over the pale skin of his stomach.

He manages to make it halfway through 'better off dead' before his vision blurs strangely and he gives Ai's hand a nudge. He pulls his shirt down silently, looking straight ahead rather than at Sousuke, biting his lip so hard that it probably hurts. He's silent for longer than he wants to be after realizing blurring in his eyes were tears, scrubbing his palms against his eyes until he sees nothing but white and dropping them back to his legs.

"This is not the first problem you've had," it's not a question the way he says it, but Ai shakes his head meekly instead. He sighs, reaching an arm out and letting Ai curl up against his chest with a whine. He doesn't ask who because he knows Ai won't say if he's been hiding something this bad and he won't command him into doing anything else. He doesn't know what to say, letting his hand balance feather-light on Ai's back and shaking his head, anger and hurt bubbling in his gut.

Ai hid even after they had hurt him the first time. Sousuke shuts his eyes again and tries to breathe evenly, the sound of it coming out harsh and ragged. He waits until he's certain he won't start crying again before tapping the back of Ai's head gently. "C'mon, I'll help you clean up."

Ai blinks at him in confusion for a second before nodding and sitting up slowly, his movements still stiff as he walks up the stairs to the bathroom. He pulls his shirt off and sits on the edge of the bath while Sousuke digs out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a cloth, hands shaking as he turns back around.

He's methodical in cleaning all the marker off, flinching as his eyes rake over each once and careful to avoid the bruising whenever he can. He's still shaking in the end, dipping his head forward to rest against Ai's leg and huffing out a sigh that comes out strange and strangled. There's dirt staining his slacks that he can see with his head balanced there, Ai's fingers lifting to stroke through his hair. He hates that it feels soothing, gritting his teeth together harder even as his eyes fall closed.

"Tell me what you want me to do," he says finally, staying with his head bowed to rest against Ai's leg. The posture almost makes him laugh, he'd had to kneel on the floor to actually be able to clean his chest comfortably and now he feels like he's bowing for royalty.

It fits, he considers bitterly, he'd be a knight for Ai the second the omega asked.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God fuck this is not a drabble and I wanna keep going but this is 4,850 words and if I don't leave it here I'll write this for the next week.


	3. Two Points For Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: Size Difference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure what to write for this, but I found this cute list of size difference prompts and combined two of them; http://needydean.tumblr.com/post/117048009137/height-difference-aus

Ai was entirely certain that he was not that short. He wasn't even the shortest person that he knew, and despite Rin's teasing it was perfectly easy to find him in a crowd, yes even the ones at National's because he was not that short. In fact, a greater part of the equation causing this problem was that Sousuke Yamazaki was too tall and seemed to fail at being aware of just where he was putting his body some of the time. For goodness sake, Rin's friend Tachibana was every bit as tall and seemed to make it through every interaction without plowing into him.

At least Sousuke apologized when he did it, blinking his eyes as he looked down at Ai and letting his mouth tilt up into a little smile before mumbling that he was sorry and he just didn't see Ai standing there. And while possibly it was annoying habit Sousuke never ran into him hard, it was usually a gentle nudge of warmth and muscle that snapped Ai's attention to the fact that he was apparently once again in Sousuke's way somehow. No, what really bothered him was that Sousuke never saw where he was standing, because Sousuke never looked at him, because even when Ai was acutely tuned to his presence in any given space Sousuke never quite noticed that Ai was in his path. He felt a little bit like a speedbump, and the way Rin positively giggled every time he saw it did not help at all. 

He knew, objectively, that Rin was not laughing at him. Because Rin, despite his prickly outer layer was genuinely kind and also because he pointedly did not tell Rin that he had a crush on his best friend. Nor did he ask if he could tell him to keep his warm, strong chest from nudging against Ai's back all the damn time, because the way it made him blush was embarrassing to begin with and now probably just made him look even more like a starry-eyed schoolgirl who was endlessly in love with his Senpai's.

It only got worse when instead of just bumping into him Sousuke slid up next to him at a swim meet (after nudging him a step forward with his shoulder and overflowing Ai's personal space with all of his warm, very nice chest) and wrapped his (also warm and big and very nice) hand around Ai's wrist and tilted his mouth up into that unfairly cute little smile that made Ai's stomach flutter.

"You'll get lost," he said with total seriousness, tilting an eyebrow upward like he was daring Ai to argue with him. "It's hard to see you with this many people."

Ai couldn't quite seem to form words, mouth hanging open just a little as Sousuke shifted from gripping onto his wrist to holding his hand as if it were a perfectly fine solution of Ai apparently being too short to find in a crowd. Which was, of course, foolish, because he wasn't all that short. For the first time, he didn't point this out, hoping Sousuke couldn't feel the thudding of his pulse where their wrists were touching. He glanced at where their fingers were laced together before nodding weakly.

"T-that make sense. Thank you for looking out for me Yamazaki-senpai," his voice was a little weak and Ai could feel the uncomfortable heat in his cheeks. Sousuke's smile was all triumph like they had already swum the relay and came in first and possibly broken a world record.

"Sorry," it was not a grin that agreed with the word. "I bumped into you again."

"You-" Ai paused, blinking his eyes and squeezing onto Sousuke's hand as he tilted his head up (because Sousuke was tall, not because he was short) to glare at him. "You've been doing that on purpose?"

"Did you really think I was that oblivious?" Sousuke sounded like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be offended or entertained, but his smile didn't fade. "I really thought doing it three times a day would be more than enough to get your attention."

Ai laughed a little helplessly at that, leaning his head against Sousuke's shoulder and holding onto his hand and basking in the warmth of his smile. Because, honestly who was that bad at flirting.

*

It's the Olympics, and Ai is still not that short. He'd even grown in high school, if just a little. Sousuke still insists on holding his hand though with the crowd around them (he does it if there's any more than two people around), rubbing tight circles on the back of his hand. People leap to their feet as the shot signaling the start of the race goes off and... Ai can't see. He tugs urgently on Sousuke's hand and gives him the best pleading look his big blue eyes can muster.

Sousuke doesn't even sigh, dropping down and letting Ai slide up onto his back. He grips the left shoulder harder than the right, giggling as Sousuke stands again and gives him the best possible view of their best friend climbing to the very top of the world.


	4. The Way I Tend To Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 4: Student/Teacher AU

"What'd you think of the new Student Council advisor? He's your homeroom teacher right?" Gou's voice is burning with curiosity, sitting across from Sousuke on the roof with her lunch spread in her lap, legs stretched out in front of her. Rin snickers next to him, both he and Sousuke sitting with their backs against the wall, sitting in the shade close enough that their legs are nearly touching. Sousuke enjoys the proximity, it means he can easily kick Rin's ankle for being an ass. He doesn't do it quite yet, giving Gou an impassive roll of his shoulders.

"Sousuke's grumpy because Ai-sensei doesn't like him," Rin chuckles again, prodding at Sousuke's shoulder with his chopsticks and grinning. At this Sousuke does kick him, looking down at his own lunch with an aggravated grumble. Rin isn't exactly wrong, Ai rarely ever actually addressed him or even looked at him without his face going red and his usually even voice breaking into a stammer. Even though Rin was technically the vice-president under Sousuke he discussed all their meetings with him instead of Sousuke. 

"Whatever. At least I don't suck up like you do," Sousuke grunted, leaning his head back against the wall and shooting Rin a glare out of the corner of his eyes. "Teacher's pet."

"Grumpy delinquent," Rin shoots back without missing a beat, giving Sousuke's leg a kick in return. It doesn't hurt at all so he hisses dramatically and makes Rin's stupid smug look falter for a second before chuckling at him. They're dangerously close to breaking into a wrestling match that ends with both of their lunches ruined, so Gou clears her throat delicately.

"People do sometimes talk that way about you, Sousuke-kun," she points out, gesturing with her own chopsticks in a way that Sousuke has decided is probably passed down through the Matsuoka family because the way they do it is identical. Despite the year between them they're frequently mistaken for being twins because of their looks and shared mannerisms. "Maybe he just hasn't gotten to know you well enough."

"He's not like... Out to get me," Sousuke shrugs again, popping a piece of beef in his mouth and swallowing it before continuing. "It's more like he tries to avoid talking to me. There's no way I'm that scary, he deals with Makoto just fine."

"Makoto's an angel. You're more like a hellhound," Rin snickers once more, giving Sousuke a friendly nudge with his shoulder. "But you should talk with him after the meeting today. Doing your job for you sucks."

"Here I thought you'd like having to actually do something for once," Sousuke smirks in return before rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll give it a shot. I doubt he'll actually agree to talk to me."

"Just tell him you have questions about the budget for the dance or some shit," Rin returns to actually using his utensils to eat rather than brandish about to emphasize his point. 

"And I do not look like a hellhound," Sousuke grumbles belatedly. Both Matsuoka's laugh at him and he resists the urge to bash their heads together. There might not be much to salvage from Rin's brain, but he probably shouldn't risk wounding Gou with her brothers thick skull. He tells them both exactly that, this time grinning along with their laughter.

The student council meeting that evening goes exactly like all the ones that had proceeded it that year; Nagisa causes trouble until Rei ropes him in, Haru's 'notes' as secretary are covered with doodles of water and cats and light on content, Makoto continues to be an abysmal Disciplinary Officer, and Ai actually looks at Sousuke only twice and his cheeks go bright red before he snaps his attention back to leading the meeting. Eventually they're all herded into doing actual work and Sousuke decides to dismiss everyone a little early because it's Friday and despite all the terrible offenses the Matsuoka's levy at his character on a daily basis he's actually a nice president to all of them.

One that does not look anything like a stupid hellhound. It had been a joke since their first year of high school to line Makoto and Sousuke up next to each other at every available chance so that their rotten friends could crack jokes about the apparent disparities in their personalities. Makoto, of course, smiles gently along and holds his hands up to try and ease them off the game, serving really only to further prove them right. Sousuke stands there and glares daggers at every one of them and inevitably winds up wrestling with Rin or snapping at Haru.

Today he lingers after dismissing the meeting, Rin shooting him a toothy smirk before he ducks out of the room and leaves him alone with Ai for perhaps the first time since the year had started. Ai finishes saying his goodbyes and turns to Sousuke with a surprised look on his face, cheeks instantly lighting up red in a way that Sousuke finds aggravating. He tries to swallow it down, standing and pulling his bag up over his shoulder, trying to slump a little away from his full height.

"Uh, Nitori-sensei... Do you have a minute to talk?" He asks, trying not to cringe at the way his vivid blue eyes skirt away from Sousuke's face. Rin has been insisting since the start of the semester that Ai is the cutest teacher at the school, and Sousuke's had to admit that he's probably right. He's so small he's frequently mistaken for being a student, with wide eyes and a charmingly dorky haircut. He's so thin that Sousuke's fairly sure he could benchpress him without actually breaking a sweat.

"O-of course Yamazaki-kun. What's on your mind?" There're nerves in his voice already and Sousuke sits on the edge of the table with a little sigh. He tries to think of some way to approach this with an actual sense of tact though it's not something he has an abundance of to begin with.

"Have... I done something to make you dislike me?" He settles on finally, leaning back of his arms rather than crossing them over his chest. He's trying not to look intimidating though he's not sure how exactly to go about it. He knows he's big, a full head taller than Rin with broad shoulders and thick muscles from their years of swimming. He's never been sure how the entire swim team wound up being the student council (probably something to do with Gou's brilliant ideas involving swimsuit cafe's and muscle shows giving them an uncomfortable level of popularity), but it is at least convenient.

"D-dislike you? I-I'm afraid I don't understand Yamazaki-kun," Ai smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. They're unusually expressive, Sousuke has noted several times. Ai is standing so far away from him he almost has to strain to hear, his back to the door like he's scared he'll have to bolt at any moment. Sousuke sighs, big and heavy from the pit of his stomach.

"It's kinda obvious Sensei. I just don't get why I guess," he shrugs, standing and grabbing his bag again. This was a stupid idea, which is exactly what he gets for asking either Matsuoka for advice. He would've thought almost a decade of having Rin as a best friend would have cured him of listening to his stupid ideas, but Sousuke is apparently too dense for that lesson to fully sink in. He tries to fully skirt around Ai to get out the door and is surprised when Ai's slender hand reaches out and catches the back of his sleeve, wrapping around roughly half the swell of his arm and making him stop halfway through his step. He turns to look down at the small teacher with a raised eyebrow, preparing to apologize for being rude and asking in the first place. It doesn't matter if Ai doesn't like him, it's not like he's so overt about it that Sousuke can't ignore it, at least for the most part.

"I-I'm very sorry Yamazaki-kun. I... Haven't behaved very fairly towards you," he bows his head gently before looking back up at Sousuke, his fingers still resting on his arm. Sousuke blinks for a second, taking in the way he stares for a second. It's probably the closest he's actually stood to Ai and when their eyes lock his pupils swell wide and he does not look the least bit scared. Sousuke's mind starts clicking things into place at an almost too-rapid pace; the way Ai's face goes red whenever Sousuke catches his gaze, he stumbles over his words pretty much every time they speak, he is still holding onto Sousuke's arm despite the fact he stopped walking away as soon as he felt the light touch there. 

Well, those aren't really the symptoms of 'dislike' as he understands them. Sousuke finds he's suddenly sort of amused by the fact that the teacher Rin has an embarrassing habit of gushing over seems to actually some kind of crush on him. Ai seems to catch Sousuke's realization because he snaps his hand back and starts shaking his head a little desperately.

"I-I'm very sorry! Th-that's not really how I meant that to sound um," he swallows hard as Sousuke leans to the side and elbows the door shut. He knows he probably shouldn't, but he also knows for a fact that Ai is barely 22 and even as wrong as Rin is about everything else, he is without a doubt the cutest teacher in Iwatobi. His cheeks are redder than ever before, staring at Sousuke. "I-I appreciate your desire to discuss this privately Y-Yamazaki-kun b-but..."

Ai trails off as Sousuke takes a step closer, letting his bag drop and smirking just a little. He leans towards Ai with a brow cocked on his face, tilting his head and stopping before he's too close to Ai's ear to be actually improper. "Are you saying you have a crush on me Sensei?"

The sound that comes out of Ai's throat really can't be described as anything other than a whimper and there's a long moment of hesitation before he weakly nods his head. He doesn't step back, letting Sousuke crowd into his space and bobbing another rough swallow. "P-please don't tell the Administration! I'm just- it's very-"

He doesn't seem to know what to say, his eyes squeezed shut like he could make the whole situation go away. Sousuke swallows the chuckle that threatens him, instead leaning a little closer and trailing his fingers down the curve of Ai's back, trying not to smirk even more. "I'm not gonna tell anyone."

Ai actually gasps at the contact, his eyes snapping open with something light and entertained weaved in with the thick swell of his pupils. Sousuke doesn't expect the confident way Ai's fingers slide into his hair, giving it a little tug and using the grip to pull their mouths together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I totally gave up on finishing this because I overslept and now it's late and I'm not really in a porn writing mood. Maybe I'll come back to it?


	5. Protect Me From What I Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: Jealousy

Sousuke didn't tend towards jealousy, not really. He was secure in the things he had in his life; his job was secure even if it was just putting him through physical therapy training, his apartment was nice enough for his personal standards, his best friend was going to be an Olympic medalist before he was 26, Sousuke didn't feel like other people had much that he didn't. Then it came to Ai, his tiny, not quite live-in boyfriend.

In high school the way he'd naively handled flirting had been sweet and endearing. He blushed easily at flattery, but anything more subtle than a sledgehammer and he didn't quite seem to make the connection that someone was showing interest in him. It was still endearing now, watching his eyes narrow whenever Sousuke made a particularly sophisticated comment on his many excellent qualities before his face lit red and his eyes filled with delight. The problem now was that Ai's oblivious nature didn't prevent people from showing interest in him, lots of people. 

Which is how he came to pick Ai up from his last class of the day, hands stuffed idly in his pockets, to find some guy in an absurdly tight leather jacket leaning into Ai's personal space under the pretense of showing him something on the screen of his phone. Ai giggled at it before his head snapped up when Sousuke cleared his throat a little. Ai smiled though he didn't quite return it, draping an arm over his willowy slender shoulders and fixing jacket-guy with a hard stare.

“They put on a really good live show if you're interested we could-” Sousuke glares more intensely as he keeps talking, hand curling into a fist.

"Ah! Sousuke, you're early," Ai smiled, turning his head and smiling up at Sousuke like the sun breaking over clouds.

"Yeah, I got done with my appointment early. Are you ready to go?" His voice was a little softer in the face of that smile, helpless to the way it made him melt a little.

“Hey, if you give me your number I can give you the details on that concert,” Jacket-guy was not good at taking hints Sousuke decided, cocking an eyebrow and squeezing his hand on Ai's shoulder.

“How 'bout I give you mine since I'll be the one taking him,” he doesn't quite snap, it's closer to a growl that rises up from the center of his chest. Does he really think Sousuke looks like the type he can just step in on? Ai smiles and gives his arm a little tug, nodding him ahead as Jacket-guy just glares and shakes his head in return.

"Did it go well then? You don't usually get done early," Ai's voice was shimmering with hope though his face didn't fall when Sousuke shrugged his good shoulder, rubbing his thumb along the base of Ai's neck.

"It's fine, my progress is basically the same as before. Was he in your class?" He asked, trying to sound casual and at least not totally failing. Ai glanced over his shoulder before looking back up at Sousuke with a shrug and shake of his head.

"Nope! He talked to me while I was waiting... I had my headphones in and he recognized the music I was listening to, he was talking about another band like them," Ai beamed a little and internally Sousuke groaned, shaking his head a little.

"So he was hitting on you," it shouldn't bother him the way it did, and he scolded himself internally. Ai was probably too cute for his own good, likely cute enough that it was going to eventually kill Sousuke. His face went a little blank, pushing his eyebrows together.

"I thought he just liked music," he grumbled a little, nudging his head against Sousuke's side. "How're you so sure?"

"Because everybody hits on you," it comes out as a growl and Sousuke cringes a little. It wasn't Ai's fault he was apparently hopelessly jealous over an idiot stranger. “He was asking you out.”

“The concert thing? It did sound kinda fun,” Ai shrugs and Sousuke's stomach clenches tighter. It's an old, stupid fear. It used to be that he was scared Ai would decide he wasn't really over his crush on Rin and leave Sousuke to the side like the broken toy he was. Now it was all the people who seemed constantly intent on trying to take him away instead.

Sousuke can't settle once they get back. Usually, he sits down alongside Ai to study because he'd always claimed it helped him stay focused if he wasn't the only one who was miserable. He wanted to ask Ai to help quiz him on anatomy or maybe massage his shoulder in the way he'd taken a sports medicine class specifically to learn. Instead, he kisses Ai's temple once and retreats to the small pile of weights he has stashed in the closet. They aren't heavy enough to make him feel strained while lifting them, which is probably for the best except for moments like now when he has a boil of angry energy that he'd really like to burn out of his system.

Ai still catches him before he has the chance to do anything but work himself up more, standing in the doorway with his arms akimbo and a scowl on his sweet face. "Have you been doing that the whole time I was working?"

Sousuke just grunts, setting the weight down and using all his practice at covering up the pain in his shoulder not to cringe as he does. Ai seems to buy it, at least for now because he just tuts gently and presses himself into Sousuke's chest with a little sigh.

"You're not even supposed to have those. What am I going to do with you?" Ai's voice is little more than gently exasperated but Sousuke shrugs and looks away a little anyways.

“I'll put'em away. Did you finish the reading you had to do?” He hesitates before looking down at Ai, his hand coming to rest at the curve of his spine, rubbing his thumb into the soft fabric of his shirt. Ai nods, leaning up on his toes to peck Sousuke gently on the lips.

“I am officially all yours for the evening,” he says with a purr, one hand resting on Sousuke's good shoulder. “So you have plenty of time to tell me whatever you're brooding to intently over.”

“I'm not-” he starts then sighs a little at the knowing quirk of Ai's brow, shaking his head a little. “It's nothing.”

“Then telling me shouldn't be an issue,” Ai smiles as brightly as ever, kissing Sousuke's cheek once more before stepping back and gathering the weights up with a little sigh, tucking them back in the closet. “If I catch you with these again I'm taking them to my place and hiding them.”

Sousuke almost smiles at the threat until it becomes a reminder that Ai doesn't actually live here with him. He rolls his shoulder with a little sigh, leaning his back on the doorframe. “Have you heard from Rin this week?”

The question nets him a pair of raised eyebrows, the closet door clicking shut as Ai turns to survey him skeptically. “Just the ususal.”

Sousuke hums a little, tucking his hands into his pockets and debating walking away before Ai figures him out. He's become disturbingly good at picking apart Sousuke's moods over the years and it's probably only a short matter of time until Ai has his stupid jealousy pegged.

“He asked me how you're doing, you should probably call him,” Ai lilts gently, tucking his fingers in the beltloops of Sousuke's pants and kissing the bottom of his chin so he doesn't have to lean up too far. “Are you worrying about him again?”

“No,” Sousuke rumbles with a little sigh, lifting a hand from his pocket to stroke through the back of Ai's hair. It's a little shorter, with more style than the silly bowl cut he'd sported in high school. “I'm not worrying at all.”

“Liar,” Ai grins as he says it, leaning a little more of his weight against Sousuke's chest and sighing delicately. “You're always worrying.”

Ai pressing warm and soft against him is almost enough to tempt Sousuke out of his bleak mood, but he shakes his head and snuggles Ai closer for a moment, shrugging his shoulders. “Sorry.”

He mumbles it out but Ai doesn't miss it, rolling his eyes playfully before ducking under Sousuke's arm with a soft sigh of laughter. “You're lucky I like broody men.”

“That so?” Sousuke cringes on the inside, letting himself be tugged off to the kitchen so Ai can puzzle out his mood and cook at the same time. “I never thought of you as having a type.”

“Of course. Huge and moody with pretty eyes and dark hair, I'm surprised you couldn't guess that for yourself,” Ai tosses Sousuke a wink over his shoulder, leaning his elbows on the counter as Sousuke sits at the small island. “Men who're so dedicated to their friends they change their entire future for them.”

“I'm not as great as all that,” Sousuke rolls his eyes, waving a hand in the air as if to swat the compliment away. “Idiots who hurt themselves and dunno when to give up is more like it.”

“Well if you were an idiot who gave up then I wouldn't have even met you,” Ai shrugs his shoulders, turning to the fridge and starting to pull food out. “Then where would I be?”

“In Australia cooking dinner for Rin?” Sousuke offers with a frown, slinking a little lower at the table. “Where you should be now.”

Ai stops at that, setting each ingredient balanced in his arms down with a little snap, looking at Sousuke like he's not sure how to handle that comment, wavering between annoyance and the urge to laugh. In the end he gives into the latter, chuckling and shaking his head.

“You are an idiot,” he says it so fondly that Sousuke can't help but look away and nod. Ai sighs softly once more, sliding behind Sousuke and wrapping his arms around him and nuzzling his head into the center of his back. “Are you saying you'd be happy if I ran off to Australia tomorrow?”

Sousuke tenses a little at the thought, shaking his head and glaring down at the table with a little sigh. “I'm not saying it'd make me happy.”

“Then why would I go?” Ai smiles against the muscles of Sousuke's back, shaking his head before resting his head against his injured shoulder without any weight behind it, kissing it softly. “I love you, you big idiot. Quit being so scared of things that aren't going to happen.”

Sousuke starts to say something else, frowning still and stopping short when a small hand clamps over his mouth, Ai leaning around him and shaking his head hard. “And if you say anything else on the subject I really will take your weights away, and call Rin and tell him you're being stupid, and not make you dinner.”

He removes his hand once all his threats are made and Sousuke smiles, nudging their heads together with a small laugh. “Okay. I'm an idiot and I love you too.”

“Right answer,” Ai grins, kissing his shoulder once more before turning back to making dinner.


	6. Welcome To Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 6: Soutori + 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's more to this but I'm already super late so I'll finish it some other time. NSFW but not quite smut.

Sousuke hummed impatiently under his breath, sitting by the baggage claim with a restlessly jiggling leg that he couldn't quite stop. It was an uncommon and quite unwelcome bout of nerves that didn't ease until a certain red haired passenger stepped off with a smirk fixed firmly onto his face from the second he saw Sousuke waiting. He paused for just a second as if he expected the taller man to come sprinting at him, brow furrowing as he glanced not at Sousuke but behind him before walking the rest of the way over with his head cocked a little. His curiosity seemed to fade back into warmth for a moment, Sousuke's fingers stroking the underside of his jaw and tilting his head up for a burning kiss, holding him there until the loud buzz of the baggage carousel made him jolt.

"Hey to you too," Rin's smirk was lopsided, lacing his fingers through Sousuke's before leaning around his side and letting his eyebrows pinch together. "Where's Ai?"

"He had something to take care of," Sousuke rolled his eyes with a laugh, letting Rin grab his bag and elbowing him a little. "You saying I'm not the welcoming committee you wanted?"

"Of course not. He's way better at it... He does the whole running hug and everything," Rin grinned wider, tilting his head and walking out with Sousuke. "What's keeping him so busy that he couldn't come see me?"

"That's a surprise," Sousuke grinned wider at the way Rin's eyes lit up even as he forced himself to frown intently. It was a strange combination and he glanced away to hide the delight barely masked in his eyes.

"I hate surprises. You two are the worst," he laughed, kissing Sousuke's cheek fleetingly before climbing into the car, leaning his head back on the seat with a sigh. "It better be good if he couldn't be here."

Sousuke just hummed at that once more, stealing a glance at Rin and raising an eyebrow. "I'm not telling you what it is."

"C'mon Sou! Not even a hint?" Rin was only seconds from tipping over into pouting, shoulders hunched forward and one hand drifting to rest on Sousuke's thigh. 

"Nothing," Sousuke grinned, letting his hand rest there with barely a glance at it. Rin huffed, slumping further into the seat and grumbling.

"I should've expected having two boyfriends would be twice the pain," Sousuke looked over again and bit back a laugh. Rin had definitely tipped over into pouting all the way, thrusting his lower lip out just a bit. Sousuke left him to it, his grin shrinking so he could enjoy the charm of Rin looking so thoroughly put out. He huffed out a sigh as they pulled up to the apartment that Ai and Sousuke shared, waiting for Sousuke to grab his bag, raising an eyebrow. "He is here, right? He didn't leave on a weeklong expedition for the perfect present or go home to visit his parents, right?"

Sousuke rolled his eyes at that, giving Rin a little shove up the stairs and tossing the suitcase over his good shoulder. "I can't tell you, now get inside."

"Pushy pushy," Rin grinned, bounding up the stairs without further hesitation. Apparently Sousuke commanding him to quit fucking around was enough to confirm that Ai was in fact home and waiting for him. Sousuke shrugged it off with a grin. A little more anticipation certainly wouldn't hurt Rin's enjoyment of the surprise any. He turned with an annoyed glare at the locked door and Sousuke's much more leisurely trip up the steps, holding his hand out for the key impatiently. Sousuke ignored it, digging it out of his pocket and unlocking the door in a way that was patently unhurried.

It earned him an elbow to the ribs as Rin shoved his way inside, letting Sousuke kick the door shut again behind him. He glanced around, seeming disappointed once again that he wasn't immediately beset with hugs. Instead, Sousuke set the bag down and tugged at his arm, pulling Rin against him and kissing him once again. Rin returned it for a moment before leaning his head back with both eyebrows raised.

"You're stalling," he accused, pressing a hand to Sousuke's mouth as he leaned forward once again, narrowing his eyes. Sousuke laughed, biting one of his fingers playfully and rolling his eyes in return.

"I'm building up the anticipation. And here you are always going on about being the romantic one," Sousuke smirked as Rin snorted and pulled out of his grasp, wheeling on the living room like he was on the hunt.

"Ai! I'm home!" His shout was far louder than required for such a small apartment, but Sousuke trailed after him without comment, smirking as a mewling sound floated out of the bedroom at the declaration. Rin's head snapped up instantly, casting Sousuke a curious glance before following after the sound to the closed door of the bedroom. He rolled his eyes, wrenching it open with an aggravated sound, starting to say something before his eyes landed on the bed. It was probably the most expensive piece of furniture in the whole apartment; big enough to allow all three of them to sleep comfortably and sporting a padded headboard. 

Rin was staring rather at Ai kneeling on the bed, nude and turned to face the doorway. His eyes were covered by a thick band of blue silk, a matching tie holding his wrists together in front of him. Despite not being able to see he seemed aware that he wasn't alone in the room any longer, his cheeks darkening with a flush that crept down his neck and across his pale chest. He squirmed, his hips jerking forward with another soft whimpering sound, drawing Rin's gaze from generally admiring him to the small silicone toy tied to the slick head of his cock with another thin piece of ribbon, topped with a little bow.

"R-Rin...?" He whined softly, fingers clenching tight around each other like he was forcing himself not to pull the blindfold off his eyes to see him. Rin froze, first in complete surprise and then to allow his body to quickly reallocate blood without causing him to pass out on his feet. He glanced up at Sousuke and frowned at the coolly pleased smirk on his face, trying to formulate something biting to say even as he turned back to watch Ai turn his head back and forth like he was still searching.

"Surprise," Sousuke only smirked wider, giving Rin a little shove to help his dumbfounded stupor.


	7. Shrink The World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 7: Domestic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This totally doesn't fit the prompt but I don't care because I thought of it and it's cute.

1.

Dragging himself out of the pool, Sousuke could feel that his angle of exit was a little wrong. He probably should have waited for someone to offer a hand to help him, but most of Samezuka's team seemed content to keep their distance from him and Rin was timing a second-year. Air hissed out through his teeth, his knee scraping the side of the pool as he lifted his legs. It wasn't deep, barely cut enough for blood to trickle down his leg. Ai, standing a few steps away didn't fail to notice, inhaling a tiny gasp and nearly lunging at Sousuke.

"S-senpai! You cut yourself," he whined, nudging at Sousuke until he found himself sitting on the starting block with a confused blink. Ai dabbed his knee dry with a towel, making a motion for him to stay sitting as he scrambled through the first aid kit that Rin kept handy. He stretched the waterproof bandage over Sousuke's knee with a smile, tilting his head before blushing and leaning forward, pressing his lips to the flesh-colored latex for a brief moment. The pressure was bare, not quite enough for Sousuke to process what he'd even done until Ai had popped back to his feet with a small smile.

"Th-thanks Ai," he grumbled out, staring for a second at his lips before standing. Ai nodded his head, blushing a little deeper at Sousuke's gaze, fixing Rin with a smile when he noticed the captain staring as well with an amused grin on his face. Sousuke considered playing up the injury as Ai walked away to scold Momotaru and Rin came to join him, looking for an escape from the impending conversation with Rin that he did not want to have.

"You're so awkward," he laughed, glancing at Sousuke's leg and shaking his head with a smirk. His voice dropped lower, glancing at Ai before smirking. "Did you hurt yourself so he'd kiss your booboo?"

"D-does he do that to everyone?" Sousuke tried hard not to sound interested in this little habit, he really did. He'd never seen Ai do it to Momo's numerous scrapes and bruises, but they were roommates. He certainly didn't see every interaction they had. Rin shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

"He used to do it to me sometimes, but I don't get hurt as often as you do," Rin smirked a little wider, elbowing Sousuke's side. "Unless that's your idea of flirting."

"Shut up. I'm not flirting," Sousuke looked away with a hard snort, rolling his eyes. He had never told his friend about having a crush on Ai, at least not in so many words. Rin picked up on it anyways and only seemed driven on by Sousuke's constant denials. Still he glanced down at his leg again and thankfully didn't blush.

2.

The next time it happened Ai had stopped by to pick up Rin's English dictionary, claiming that it was more helpful than his own because Rin made notes on the pages. Despite Rin's neat desk, Sousuke actually had no idea where he kept anything and wound up digging on the shelf under the desk before pulling it out with a grunt, leaning back to sit up. He banged his head on the underside of the drawer, cursing and hunching forward further, dropping the dictionary in the process.

"Y-Yamazaki-senpai! Are you alright?" Ai had dropped down next to him, making sure Sousuke sat back far enough before sitting up again. Sousuke shrugged, rubbing the back of his head and blinking in surprise when Ai pulled his hand away gently. "L-let me take a look."

"Ah- I'm sure it's fine Ai," he tried extremely hard not to flush at Ai's fingers sliding through his hair to feel at the small bump, blood flushing into the back of his neck traitorously. Seeming satisfied that he wasn't bleeding or brain damaged Ai leaned forward, kissing the back of his head with that same fleeting pressure. It didn't even hurt it was so gentle. He scooped up the dictionary with a smile, standing and bowing.

"Thank you very much, I'm sorry you hit your head because of me!" Ai chewed his bottom lip before standing, seeming a little more relaxed as Sousuke stood and waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it. I hit it on the ceiling all the time too," he flushed a little at the tips of his ears as Ai stared for a second at his forehead like he was looking for a bruise there. Sousuke wasn't sure if he was glad he didn't have one or not. Would Ai lean up and kiss that too if one was there, or did it only count when he saw Sousuke hurting himself by being an idiot?

He didn't get a chance to find out, Ai blinked his eyes like he was drawn out of his thoughts. His smile was suddenly shy when he nodded, turning and letting himself out with a final 'thank you'.

3.

He didn't mean to let Ai see the painful darkening of his shoulder. He didn't mean for anyone to find out about it at all, but at least he had been true to his word about not telling Rin. He did tend to fret a little more over Sousuke, glancing at him extra during practice and frequently asking about it during their late night coaching. He let Sousuke haul him out of the pool, stopping as Sousuke's face contorted. He dropped Ai's hand instead of lingering to enjoy the way the contact made his skin tingle, gripping his shoulder with a grimace.

"Is it bad tonight? Let me see," Ai held his hands in front of him like he was approaching a wounded animal, his smile soft at the edges and reassuring. Sousuke dropped his hand a little reluctantly, expecting the press of Ai's fingers to make his muscle burn further, blinking when he caressed it so softly it could barely be felt.

"I wish I could help you somehow Senpai," he mumbled, not looking surprised when Sousuke didn't respond. He was quiet, but the rest of the room was full of dead air and it made his soft voice easier to hear. Still, Sousuke jolted just a little when Ai leaned on his toes, pressing a series of butterfly kisses to his shoulder. He hoped his face wasn't bright red as he stared down at Ai, eyes just a little wide in surprise. Ai smiled back a little shyly, padding away to get both their waters without explaining at all.

4.

Despite what his appearance seemed to suggest, Sousuke did not get into fights with people other than Rin often. Though his appearance probably contributed in his ability to generally avoid violent confrontation; usually cold glares and a clenched up fist were intimidating enough to stop a problem before it started.

The pair of boys pushing Ai around after wrenching his bag off were a problem. Sousuke stepped up behind one with a raised eyebrow and a deep frown, gripping the back of his shirt with a sound that could be best described as a growl. The other stopped, dropping the school bag he was holding above his head, still holding Ai in a headlock that made Sousuke narrow his eyes further.

"You should let go. Now," his tone didn't broker any argument and he was pleased when the boy took his advice and let go of Ai. He set the other slowly back on his feet, shifting to glare at them both equally. He expected them to scramble off with the fear of getting caught by someone who actually cared enough to intercede, careful not to catch Ai's gaze for the moment. He wanted to be sure he was okay, but it was impossible to look into those giant blue eyes and still keep his face scary. What he did not expect was for the further boy to turn back to Ai with a sneer on his face.

"Do he and Matsuoka fuck you at the same time or something?" He laughed as Ai's face fell further, stumbling back a step and shaking his head after scooping up his bag. Sousuke shook his head, taking another step forward and ignoring the way Ai reached out to try and stop him.

"I wouldn't open that can of worms if I were you. Rin's probably more likely to start a fight than I am," he cocked an eyebrow, flexing his shoulders as he felt more than saw the other one lining up behind him.

In the end they both ran away with bleeding faces, Ai half-quivering a few feet away when Sousuke finally glanced down at his scraped knuckles and wiped them off on his shirt with a huffed out sigh. He turned to Ai with a small smile, reaching his other hand out to stroke the top of his head, hoping it was calming. Rin was always ruffling the kids hair, this wasn't that far off.

Ai did relax into it, blood rising into his cheeks as he looked up at Sousuke for a second before picking his things up and staring directly at his feet.

"Y-you didn't have to do that Sousuke-senpai," he mumbled, shaking his head a little. Sousuke snorted, reaching out and taking the bag from him.

"Of course I did. If they bug you again you could call me," he smiled a little crookedly, blushing as Ai grabbed hold of his hand with both of his own.

"Ah! You hurt your hand," he bit his lip, glancing up at Sousuke's face and blushing further before leaning forward and kissing each one of his knuckles, still clinging to Sousuke's fingers. His lips lingered over each one and by the time he let go Sousuke's brain had short-circuted from the contact.

"T-thank you. Um, please don't tell Rin?" He asked quietly, dropping his hands to his sides again. Sousuke blinked several times before he was able to speak again, sighing softly.

"I won't this time, but in return you have to tell me if someone else gives you trouble," he smiled just a little as Ai nodded, walking the rest of the way back to the dorms with him.

5.

Eating lunch with Rin was a hit or miss kind of activity. Sousuke did it every day regardless, letting his best friend sulk when required or sitting and smiling while he went on passionate rants. Ai was starting to join them as well more and more frequently, making Sousuke wonder if this had been his tradition with Rin before he had transferred to Samezuka. Today was a sulking day with Rin glaring down at his food in total frosty silence, making Sousuke a little more glad that Ai had decided to sit with them. That was until he got a little too caught up with examining his profile while chewing and bit straight down on his lip rather than the food balanced on his chopsticks.

He grimaced, tasting blood in his mouth and groaning just a little. It was enough to pull Ai's attention away from his lunch, blinking his eyes rapidly before scrambling to pull a napkin away from his food. "S-senpai you're bleeding!"

"Ah shit," Sousuke grumbled, taking it with a nod and pressing it to the cut on his lip. Rin glanced up with a little smile on his face, entertainment at Sousuke's ever increasing clumsiness enough to pull him out of his foul mood for a moment. He glanced at Ai wringing his hands together as Sousuke pulled the napkin away with a wrinkled nose. It didn't hurt badly, and it seemed like it was nearly done bleeding already but Rin was giving Ai a funny stare, and Ai wouldn't look at him at all. He knew that Ai was a little adverse to blood, but usually it only sent him into a fit of fretting rather than making him blush like he was now.

"You gonna kiss that too?" Rin asked after a moment, grinning triumphantly as Ai's head snapped up. His eyes were wide and his blush only darkened, matching the one that Sousuke could feel at the top of his ears. Usually, he would smack Rin for the suggestion, but Ai was staring at him like he was trying to gauge what kind of reaction that would have. Rin shrugged and started to actually eat rather than just glower and Sousuke swallowed hard before giving Ai the best smirk he could while also bleeding from his mouth.

"You are always kissing my injuries," he shrugged a little, grinning slightly as Ai's mouth popped open for a second. Was he expecting Sousuke to not notice? Ai had a few quirky habits, but that one stood out the most. Ai swallowed before leaning forward and kissing Sousuke's lower lip tenderly, lips pressed exactly over the cut his teeth had opened up. He started to lean back before Sousuke's hand caught in the back of his hair, shifting so he was kissing Ai in return. He was about to forget Rin and experiment with the idea of getting his tongue into Ai's mouth as well until Rin's shoulders started to shake with his suffused laughter. He let go of Ai slowly, almost groaning as he could feel the blush rising into his cheeks.

Ai looked no better, blinking and pressing his hand to his lips before returning hastily to his lunch, stealing glances at Sousuke's lips so often he probably would have saved time with outright staring.

+1.

Ai was glad to be invited out for the day by Sousuke, silently amending Senpai to boyfriend. It was a change he found to get used to, in no small part because it was hard to imagine someone like Yamazaki Sousuke having a romantic interest in him. Especially one that led to an extremely sweet and bumbling confession after Rin had snuck off from their usual lunch, laughing to himself and fixing them both with a wicked smirk when they walked to practice holding hands. Still, today was special, today they were leaving campus to go on an actual date, and he was even going to be on time. Until he ran into Momo in the courtyard outside the dorms, his roommate's head snapping up as he walked by with a huge smile on his face.

"Nitori-senpai! Wanna see something awesome?" He blinked his eyes and smiled wide with excitement, both hands tucked behind his back. Ai hesitated for a moment, taking in Momo's smile and responding with a frown of his own. It had become increasingly clear during his time of living with Momo that they did not share the same idea of what was 'awesome' and agreeing would likely only lead to some kind of horrible inscet being shoved into his face. He shook his head, tilting his head a little.

"N-no thank you Momo. I'm meeting up with Sousuke," he smiled. It wasn't even an excuse, he thought, even if Sousuke was likeley not even there to meet with him yet. Momo's shoulders slouched, his bright face overtaken with a look of pure mischief.

"Nitori-senpai's going on a date!" He crowed, rising onto his toes and wiggling back and forth. "But I still wanna show you this..."

"Ah- okay Momo-kun. As long as you're quick," he struggled to keep his voice stern, tucking his hands into his pockets and smiling a little. Momo nodded, bounding a step forward so they were close together, whipping his hands in front of him. He was holding a frog the size of Ai's head, its bulging eyes only inches from his own. Worse, the thing stared directly back at him and its throat expanded like some kind of horrific balloon, a rasping croak coming from its rolled lips.

Ai shouted in pure terror, trying to sidle back a step to put space between himself and the amphibian at the same time as trying to turn at the sound of someone calling his name and winding up tripping over his own ankle. He fell so quickly he didn't even think to put his hands out, winding up with his head banging into the concrete that had been under his feet. There was more shouting and shuffling above him though Ai's brain didn't quite want to focus.

He sat himself up slowly in spite of the hands reached out to try and stop him, blinking as he found himself staring at both Momo and Sousuke. This was even more confusing at he stared at his boyfriend's face with furrowed brows. His view was hampered by something red on the right side and when he lifted a hand to wipe at his eye Sousuke grabbed his wrist gently.

"Ai- are you okay?" He intoned seriously, reaching forward and using the black sleeve of his jacket to wipe Ai's face clean of the blood slowly leaking from his forehead. He glared a little at Momo, shaking his head. "Go ask Rin for a bandage."

Momo nodded, bounding to his feet and taking off in a run back inside the dorm, leaving Ai to stare at Sousuke like he was trying to puzzle out the mysterys of the universe. It was almost as cute as it was concerning and Sousuke kept his sleeve pressed to Ai's head to keep more blood from getting in his eye.

"Does that make you a prince?" Ai asked after a long moment, looking at Sousuke intently. Sousuke blinked a little, biting back a laugh as he could still see the frog that must have scared Ai. He shook his head, smiling as he still fought back his laughter, glancing up at Rin jogging over with his first aide kit.

"No, Momo didn't make you kiss his frog. Just the sidewalk," he grinned softly, holding his hand out to Rin and wrinkling his nose at the alcohol wipe he was handed. He ripped it open with his teeth, pulling his hand away slowly. "Hey, this is gonna sting a little."

He dangled it so Ai could see it, waiting until he nodded in acknowlegement before using it to clean the cut, glad to find it was fairly small and tucked mostly under his bangs. He used one hand to hold them out of the way, sticking the bandage Rin handed over to his forehead and smiling in encouragement once it was done. Ai actually smiled back, seeming less confused now that he was sure Sousuke hadn't been a frog at any point. Rin snickered next to him, nudging his knee against Sousuke's shoulder.

"Don't forget to kiss it," he smirked. Sousuke laughed softly, sliding his fingers into the back of Ai's hair and using it to pull their faces close together, pressing his lips gently to the bandage. Ai sighed in what sounded like relief, closing his eyes and humming contentedly.


	8. Save Rock And Roll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Nitori gets fed up with his current pop group because everyone thinks he’s like 15 because of the makeup and stuff, so he joins a punk rock band that Sousuke is the lead singer for. He isn’t very good at it and everyone still thinks he’s 15.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr followers are cruel enablers and this will probably turn into a Soutori drabble collection.

Pop, Ai had decided, was absolutely not his thing. He still wanted to be a musician of course, but the idea of continuing on as Lovely Aiichirou and having interviewers constantly ask him if it was hard to balance his singing career with high school was too much. He wasn’t even in high school anymore! He had turned 20 months ago, how did these people still think he was a little kid?

So he quit, glad he’d known his manager since he actually was a little kid. It worked well for all of a single day until the same interviewers came after him asking why he had decided to suddenly ‘retire’. So, furious to change himself and the innocent image that people had, he went out and clipped his 'charming’ bowl cut into an undercut back and heavy fringe and had his right ear pierced twice. He didn’t want to be cute and Lovely anymore, he just wanted to be Ai.

But he didn’t want to give up music either, and that was how he found himself sitting in a dim bar, listening curiously to a punk band auditioning new singers. He had found the flyer at the little place he’d gone to get his ears pierced, deciding that a band with a name like Monster Shark was perfect for his tough new image. There were three other members as far as he could tell once he came in; a drummer with shockingly bright orange hair who couldn’t seem to sit still for more than thirty seconds (typical of any drummer that Ai had met previously), a bassist that seemed perpetually caught between annoyance and smirking in a way that made Ai sure that 'Monster Shark’ came entirely from the scary points of his teeth and the way they matched the scary glimmer in his eyes, and a singer/guitarist that was probably the exact definition of tall, dark and handsome and was probably the tallest person Ai had ever actually met.

He finished his drink to pluck up the courage to introduce himself, trying to ignore the way that the singer kept casting curious glances at him. He was fairly certain he wouldn’t be recognized with the new haircut and jingling metal in his ears though his clothes were slightly more pastel than he would have preferred. His jeans did have the appropriate tears in them, and he had picked a shirt devoid of any cartoon animals. Still, he glanced up in time to catch one of his roving looks and tilted his head, deciding at the last second not to smile.

This only made the singer grin to himself, kicking at the bassist’s leg under the table to get his attention before mumbling something. Ai stood, deciding not to let the way the bassist was smirking deter him, holding out the slightly crumpled flyer he had picked up. He cocked his head a little further, letting one hip jut out as he settled his weight to once side. “You’re looking for a singer, right?”

The broad-shouldered and frustratingly handsome singer hummed to himself as he looked it over, raising an eyebrow at Ai and grinning just a little. “Are you old enough to be in here?”

“I’m twenty,” he responded, not bothering to mask his annoyance at the question. It was a punk band, he decided, he didn’t have to go into it being sweet or polite. The bassist snickered to himself before looking up at Ai and shrugging his shoulders. His eyes lingered a moment longer on his face before standing and looping the strap of his instrument over his shoulder.

“Guess we won’t ID you for that one. I’m Rin,” he didn’t hold a hand out, but he did smile like he wasn’t considering ripping out Ai’s throat and Ai decided that was a start at least. He nudged his knee against the singer. “That’s Sousuke, our spazz is Momo.”

Momo pouted a little at the term but returned to tapping out an uneven rhythm on his thigh before it had a chance to really be effective. Ai nodded, glancing at Sousuke and reminding himself once again not to smile, trying also not to wither at how heavy his blue eyes felt. “I’m Aich- just Ai.”

He made the correction quickly, not missing the way both his eyebrows shot upwards before he shrugged. He nodded at the microphone positioned at the center of the small stage and passed a remote into Ai’s hand.

“Well cool. We borrowed an old karaoke machine so you can pick something you know to sing. If you’re good at that you can try a duet with Sousuke too,” Rin smirked at his own joke, dodging the kick Sousuke shot at him. “He loves those things.”

“Please ignore Rin, he’s an idiot,” Sousuke intoned seriously, giving Ai a fleeting smile that felt actually genuine. Ai returned it without thinking, nodding and turning to the small screen. He selected something he was sure he knew well, lower than his usual register but still comfortably within his range. He stepped up on the stage without a thought, the trio of curious faces not enough to break his performance hardened nerves. Rin was still grinning when the music started, Momo shifting behind them, Sousuke looking like the whole thing was an inside joke.

All their faces changed when Ai started to really sing. Rin’s grin vanished and even Momo decided to sit still. Ai wasn’t exactly surprised by the reaction, but he was proud of it. He hadn’t become at least a little famous by having a terrible voice, and even outside of the pop he was used to he knew it affected people. His mother had always said Ai’s gift was singing straight from his soul, every syllable raw with emotion and tempered evenly by his voice. They sat stunned once it finished, Ai nodding his head once in satisfaction. He waited patiently for them to figure out something to say, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“T-that um,” Rin blinked his eyes furiously before looking down at Sousuke and raising an eyebrow. Sousuke shrugged heavily before nodding his head once. It was clear that despite Rin’s more talkative nature that Sousuke made most of the actual decisions. They didn’t even consult the still shell-shocked Momo.

“Sounded great though I wouldn’t have called the song punk rock,” Sousuke chuckled softly, looking up at Ai with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. It was at that moment he got the joke Sousuke seemed to be enjoying; even if the other two hadn’t it was abundantly clear that Sousuke at least recognized him.

~

Ai wasn’t sure why Sousuke seemed to hate him so much. He’d agreed to Ai joining without an issue, but frequently he could feel Sousuke glaring at him, eyes dark and sharp like he was trying to use them to pick Ai apart. Rin and Momo seemed to both like him just fine, both clapping him on the shoulders after their third show finished. It was in a bar that Ai hadn’t been to before, one that was dim but surprisingly nice inside, and more packed than their previous had been.

The crowd had made Momo nervous and Ai struggled not to joke with him about trying to do the same thing in front of thirty thousand people. Partially because other than Sousuke’s sort of smug smirking no one knew he had any identity outside of being just Ai, and because he was worried the thought alone might make Momo keel over in sheer horror. He settled at a stool at the bar with a smile, ordering a water to try and soothe his throat. 

There was more shouting and all the songs were much lower than he was used to and his voice was still trying to adjust to the change. Usually, he stuck himself directly to Rin’s side; the bassist was popular with people despite his scary face and Ai enjoyed spending time with him. This time Rin was stuck to the side of the black haired chef that came to some of their shows, looking both pleased and angry at the same time.

Momo was tucked safely under his older brother’s arm, too young to actually drink. Sejiuurou was both the manager of the band and Rin’s sisters boyfriend, and he seemed to be around constantly. He was just as big as Sousuke and had a laugh that made the room feel like it was shaking. Strangely, despite his size Ai couldn’t think of anyone less intimidating to be around, he was too jolly to actually be scary. He lifted his head from examining his bandmates when someone slid onto the stool beside him, turning back to the glass of water.

“You have a really pretty voice y'know,” the guy was positively leering, leaning his way into Ai’s space by degrees. He gave him a close-mouthed smile and nodded in thanks, taking a long sip of the drink trying to think of something to say. He wasn’t used to having people hit on him and usually he relied on Rin to scare people off. He jolted as fingers grazed hot down his side, laughter pressing close to his ear. “Actually, all of you is pretty. I’m Kazuki.”

“A-Ai,” he mumbled in response, trying to lean away a little in the limited space the stool offered. Kazuki nodded, looking down at the water with a little chuckle and a raised eyebrow. Ai shifted his fingers around the glass, smiling. “C-cuz of all the yelling, makes my throat a little sore.”

There was a gravelly note embedded in his voice that clarified the point and Kazuki nodded with a slightly wider grin. “Cute. You don’t want anything more fun?”

“I- um,” his cheeks flushed a little at the emphasis on ‘fun’, curling his legs against the cold metal post holding the stool up. Kazuki laughed at the lame answer, shifting so their heads were close together, his laughter dropping down to a purr.

“I think I could provide some fun if you’re looking,” he grinned, lifting a hand and sliding his thumb down the side of Ai’s cheek, brushing the corner of his mouth a little. “You and your pretty mouth.”

Ai squeaked a little, jerking back and finding a solid wall of muscle directly behind him. He looked over his shoulder with wide eyes and found Sousuke glaring at Kazuki with his mouth set in a hard line and Ai wasn’t sure if it was a relief or not. Sousuke snorted, draping one heavy arm over Ai’s shoulders and using a thumb to tilt Ai’s head so they were facing one another, leaning down and kissing him. Ai’s eyes fluttered closed in surprise, his thoughts melting into a puddle at the sheer warmth of Sousuke’s mouth pressed over his. There was the barest touch of his tongue against Ai’s lower lip before Kazuki was storming off with a snort and Sousuke pulled back.

His arm dropped back to his side, taking the seat that Kazuki had occupied with a roll of his eyes. He glanced over at Ai’s shell-shocked expression with his mouth quirked upward at the corner. “Sorry, you looked creeped out. Figured I’d help.”

“Th-thank you?” It came out as a question and Sousuke chuckled again, stretching his arms above his head and hissing through his teeth.

“There was probably a more subtle way to do that, I guess,” he shrugged, dropping his arms and actually smiling. Ai was fairly sure it was the first time Sousuke had ever actually smiled at him and his cheeks felt warm. “Rin’s good at all that, I’m not really.”

“R-Rin has in fact never kissed me just to make someone go away,” he blurted out before his mind caught up with his words. Both of Sousuke’s eyebrows shot up and he pushed his hands out in front of him quickly. “N-not that he’s kissed me for any other reason! He-he hasn’t kissed me at all!”

Sousuke laughed at that, shaking his head and patting Ai’s shoulder again. “One, it’s none of my business who he’s making out with this week, but good to know. Two, who said it was just to make him leave?”

“Y-you two aren’t…?” Ai blinked, his eyes flicking over to Rin and his brow furrowing in confusion. He and Sousuke had seemed close from the first moment Ai had met them, he had just assumed from the start that they were together. Sousuke frowned a little but there was still laughter in his eyes.

“Rin and I grew up together, we’re not dating,” he smirked as Ai breathed out a little sigh of relief. He’d thought Sousuke hated him for spending so much time around Rin, though that still left the matter of why he actually hated him.

“S-so what is the problem?” He asked shyly, glaring down at the bar a little. Sousuke blinked in surprise before leaning his arms on the dark wood and sighing hard.

“I don’t dislike you,” he started and Ai could feel the 'but’ hanging on the end of his words. “I don’t get you.”

“Wh-what’d you mean?” Ai tilted his head, blinking softly. It wasn’t the answer he was expecting by a longshot.

“You were famous, and don’t tell me it wasn’t you. Rin and Momo may be dense as bricks but I do actually follow entertainment news,” he shrugged his shoulders, hunching a little further between them and laughing. “And you just… Walked away from it. And joined some punk bar band with a bunch of guys you’ve never met before… It doesn’t make any sense, it doesn’t seem like you even know punk music.”

“O-oh,” Ai swallowed, then smiled softly, rubbing the back of his head and sighing. “You could’ve just asked about it, it’s not- nothing bad happened.”

“Then why give all that up to claw your way from the bottom again?” Sousuke sounded more annoyed than curious, shaking his head. Ai frowned a little.

“I didn’t wanna be a popstar anymore; people acted like I was some innocent little kid all the time and I couldn’t be anything other than the persona they made up for me,” he shook his head, twisting his fingers together and not looking up at Sousuke this time. “It was suffocating. All I’ve ever wanted to be was a singer but… Not like that.”

“So you just walked away and joined the first unknown band you could find?” Sousuke chuckled, shaking his head. Ai shrugged, smiling softly.

“I liked the idea of being in a band… Having other people to perform with,” he shrugged, looking up with a smile. “I could’ve gone back to playing piano and singing I guess, I still have my agent and my manager and it wouldn’t have been hard to produce my own album, but people would still be looking at me the same way.”

“Huh,” Sousuke hummed softly, seeming to mull it over for a moment before toward Ai again with a smirk on his face. “So no acknowledgement on kissing you because I wanted to then?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already have another part to this in mind. Goddamnit.


	9. Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doing song-prompted drabbles; Good- Nico Vega https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlI21kAdNMk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote this before Save Rock and Roll, but forgot to post it here.

“Ah- Sousuke-senpai,” Ai pushed a smile onto his face, looking up at his much taller teammate. The look was achingly forced, his cheeks already sore with the effort of holding it there under Sousuke’s heavy gaze. He didn’t falter, pulling himself out of the pool without help and hesitating before taking the towel offered to him. “Um, a-are you busy after practice?”

“If you want me to stay and coach, you better take a break now,” Sousuke’s tone was stern, but there was a smile in his eyes, at odd with the slightly strange way Ai had regarded him all day. Still, for what was on his mind it would give him a quiet moment to talk about it. Ai nodded his head, drying his hair with quick vigorous strokes and padding over to his water bottle. 

Sousuke nodded with a slight pleased smile, turning back to stretching his own muscles out diligently, still casting small glances in Ai’s direction whenever he thought he could get away with it, waving Rin off after they finished most of the clean-up and blinking as Ai didn’t dive directly back into the pool like he usually did, loathe to waste a single moment of training time.

Instead, he stood a few feet from the edge, wringing his hands around the same towel he used earlier and biting his lip furiously as he looked up at Sousuke. “Th-there’s something I wanted to tell you.”

Sousuke raised an eyebrow, nodding and dropping to sit on one of the starting blocks. Ai’s cheeks didn’t flame with blood, instead he was drawn and pale and Sousuke just now noticed the heavy bags under his eyes. He hunched his shoulders inwards, making himself seem smaller than usual. “What’s on your mind?”

“I- um,” he opened his mouth and closed it a few times, pausing and scrubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes furiously. He dropped them after a moment, sighing heavily at the almost eager look on Sousuke’s face. “I’m quitting the team.”

“You- you’re what?” He demanded in surprise. This was not the conversation he’d been expecting to have. He was prepared for ‘I have a crush on Rin’ or maybe more optimistically 'I really like you Sousuke-senpai’. He could feel his jaw dropping open but he didn’t immediately try to stop it, staring at Ai’s face like he was waiting for him to burst into another smile and say this was all a joke. Instead he shrugged his shoulders a little, gripping the fabric between his hands tighter and nodding once curtly. Sousuke blinked again, searching through the questions buzzing through his brain for one he could even start with. “Did you tell Rin yet?”

It wasn’t the best place to start, judging from the way Ai cringed and shook his head. He seemed to have to steel himself all over again at the mention of it, biting his lip. “I’m going to tomorrow, I wanted to let you know first.”

“Why?” He wasn’t sure exactly what he was asking why about. Likely it was everything, he didn’t understand what would bring Ai to the conclusion that he had to quit, especially with the way he only improved. Ai sighed hard, shrugging his shoulders.

“You’ve put a lot of time into helping me, I thought you deserved to know,” he returned to chewing his lower lip for a moment before bowing stiffly. “Thank you very much Sousuke-senpai.”

“Not- not that. Why are you quitting?” He waved a hand at the bowing, eyebrows settling close together with a furrow of confusion between them.

“I don’t really fit in here do I?” He asked with a bitter bark of laughter, shaking his head. “I just make the team weaker.”

“I think you’re the only person that thinks that,” Sousuke raised an eyebrow, hands curling into loose fists at his knees. “You work harder than anybody else here.”

“Because I have twice as much ground to make up,” Ai sighed a little, fixing another smile to his face. It made Sousuke’s stomach curl into a tighter knot with how familiar it looked even now when it was so heavily faked. “I don’t want to let you and Rin-senpai down anymore.”

“Then you can’t quit,” Sousuke shrugged, standing now and planting both hands on Ai’s slim shoulders, looking down at his wide eyes with a smile. “If you don’t give up there’s no way I’ll be disappointed in you.”

“I can barely qualify for my preferred event,” he grumbled, turning away from Sousuke’s gaze with a frown. “I want to swim in the relay with everyone, but I’m not sure I’m good enough.”

“Then keep working,” Sousuke paused for a moment, considering giving Ai’s hair a ruffle like Rin always seemed to be doing. Instead he leaned forward, pressing a fleeting kiss to his forehead. “You deserve it more than anyone else.”


	10. Something Vague

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Domestic Soutori with a very small cat

Ai really hadn't meant to bring the cat home to their apartment. Really. He couldn't help it though when it looked up at him with such droopy teal eyes and made a pathetic mewling sound, rubbing against one of his ankles and making him realize that the kitten wasn't even bigger than his shoe. So without a thought about the apartment's no pet policy, or to the fact that he actually had nothing that would assist in taking care of a tiny, probably sick kitten, Ai scooped it up into his arms and let the little ball of white fluff cuddle into his sweater, its eyes drooping at the soothing rhythm of Ai carrying it home.

It was fast asleep when he settled it on the couch in the living room, stroking its long soft fur before wandering into the kitchen in search of milk or tuna or something else that cats probably liked eating. He got halfway through scooping a can of tuna into a bowl when he stopped short, listening to the sound of heavy steps coming up the stairs to the door. Panicking, he let the can clatter messily to the counter, dashing out the door and slamming it behind him, standing with it pressed against his back when Sousuke hit the top of the staircase, raising an eyebrow and staring at him oddly. Not that he could blame his boyfriend for that one, he didn't frequently come home to Ai actually using his much smaller body to block the doorway. Sousuke frowned almost instantly, reaching a hand out like Ai was a wary animal.

"What did you do?" It was short of being demanding, concerned but still a tinge amused. Ai frowned a little, stretching his arms to the sides to block the whole doorway and eyeing the handcuffs on Sousuke's belt with a dubious frown.

"Now what I need you to do before I let you inside is promise you'll keep an open mind," he squeaked, and Sousuke blinked before covering the handcuffs with a frown. Ai shook his head quickly, his face going bright red. "Th-that's not what I mean!"

"Please tell me you didn't try to cook again," Sousuke rubbed a hand over his forehead, stepping closer and settling one hand warm and gentle on Ai's hip, still frowning impressively. "Remember we talked about the whole fire safety thing. I'd rather order in than not have an oven to come home to."

"No! I didn't set anything on fire," Ai shook his head, swatting Sousuke's hand away from the doorknob when it drifted away from his hip and narrowing his eyes. "And don't try and distract me either!"

"Ai just tell me what the hell is going-" he stopped at a surprisingly loud meow from the other side of the door. Ai blinked then flushed a little, looking over his shoulder but swatting Sousuke's hand back. The kitten mewed again from inside and Ai wondered how anything so tiny could be so incredibly loud.

"K-keeping an open mind! And remembering that I'm really, really good with animals," Ai amended, flashing Sousuke the most brilliant smile he could as he finally got a hand around the doorknob, pushing it open to stare at the white ball of fluff sitting on top of their couch with muddy paws, mouth open as it cried loudly again. He shot Ai a glare, getting them both inside before shutting it again quickly and sighing hard.

"You brought home a cat," his voice was flat and Ai rubbed the back of his neck before scooping the kitten in his arms again with a pout, stroking its back tenderly.

"It was all alone! And look how small," he held the tiny kitten out, cupped in both his hands, giving his best pout up at Sousuke. He could see the iron defense cracking by degrees, Sousuke's mouth softening at the edges, his foot lifting off the ground like he wanted to step forward and pet it.

At least Ai hoped so, rather than Sousuke wanting to cross the room and strangle them both. He sighed out heavy, taking the step he had primed and instead running his fingers through Ai's hair, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"I guess it was only a matter of time," he grumbled, pulling his hand away from Ai's head to stroke the kitten's slowly. It purred almost instantly, warming into Sousuke's touch and forcing a smile out of him probably against his will. Ai answered it with a blinding one, nodding his head.

"It likes you," he passed the kitten into Sousuke's arms, leaning up to kiss his cheek and earning a sound that was somewhere between a chuckle and a grunt, leaving his too-large boyfriend to tend to the too-small kitten while he finished making up a dish of tuna.

"It is going to the vet tomorrow," Sousuke grumbled, watching once Ai set the food down for the tiny cat to devour, pulling Ai into his lap with a little grunt. Ai giggled, nodding his head and making a great show of adjusting Sousuke's cap.

“Of course, Officer!” He ignored the eyeroll he got in response. 

The cat seemed nice, Sousuke decided, until it was time for bed and it was clawing desperately at the door. He groaned loudly as Ai started to shift away from where his arms were wrapped his shoulders, settling his head heavier against the center of Ai's chest. “Do not let it in here.”

“Yuki's probably just lonely,” Ai gave Sousuke's head a shove, grunting as he just settled in further. “If you don't let Yuki in I'm not cuddling you.”

True to his word Ai dropped his arms away from holding onto Sousuke, making him groan and roll off the bed reluctantly, pulling the door open and glaring at the tiny monster still raised on its hind legs to continue clawing. It purred instantly, rubbing between his legs before making a leap that only managed to land halfway up the bed, clinging to the sheets with a pathetic mewl before Sousuke set it safely on the foot of the bed.

Sousuke was about to complain about having an animal that was troublesome already until he saw the way Ai was beaming at him, sliding under the covers and rolling his eyes, pressing his head back into the center of his chest, sighing softly as Ai's fingers wove through his hair, stroking over and over again until his eyes drooped closed on their own.


	11. You Turn The Screws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steampunk!AU where Sousuke is a police officer with a mechanical arm and Ai is the mechanic who sometimes fixes it.

'Maintenance' used to be a word that made Sousuke's blood run cold. The prosthetic itself was a blessing, it allowed him to continue his job with minimal inconvenience and some benefits of his own, replacing a right arm that had been a source of pain and grief for years. But the inevitable repair and upkeep were-- far from a blessing, especially under the severe and unforgiving touch of his mechanic. The man himself was a unique form of agony; grey-haired and sharp-eyed. He never left a single bolt untightened, nor did he miss the few cringes of pain that broke from Sousuke's usually impassive facade. He also never missed the chance to mock Sousuke for them, apparently being a criminal in his younger days had given him a harsh tongue for any officer, but Sousuke seemed to be a special favorite for his mockery.

However, he'd come to find that visiting Nitori's Body and Parts had a silver lining of its own. He pushed through the door, hissing a sigh through his teeth at the soreness in his shoulder and listening to the steel of his fingers clink together when he clenched his hand. The small desk set up in the front room of what was really more of a house than a shop wasn't manned by Hiroshi but instead by his son Aiichirou. He looked at Sousuke like he was prepared for something amazing to happen, his eyes widening as soon as he found the officer's face, sitting a little straighter in his seat. His smile was broad, stretching over his white teeth and shutting his eyes with its force. "Yamazaki-san! What a nice surprise!"

"Afternoon," he grumbled, and no, he absolutely was not blushing. Though, who could really blame him, with a greeting like that? He rolled his shoulder, drawing Ai's attention to the metal-on-metal creak of his joint. His smile vanished instantly, replaced by the calculating look he shared with his father. It wasn't nearly as cold, but it was every bit as sharp and Sousuke swallowed a little when the much smaller mechanic sprung to his feet, rounding the side of the desk and tugging the side of his jacket. He paused, pink creeping over his cheeks, looking up with a small smile.

“I'm sorry, may I? I can go fetch Dad if you'd prefer--” he started to offer but Sousuke shook his head sharply, pulling the blazer off and draping it over his left arm, pushing his sleeve up and leaning to the side to allow Ai to reach his shoulder more easily. His smile grew slightly, still lifting onto his toes and furrowing his brow gently, pressing the skin around the joint with a quiet hum. It wasn't hard enough to actually hurt and when Ai stepped away to fetch a catastrophically messy tool box Sousuke sat on the edge of the desk instead, lowering himself to be more accessible.

“Usually people want a mechanic with more experience, but you always let me take a look first,” Ai observed, digging through his tools before finding what he wanted, clamping a large wrench between his teeth, a pair of pliers that came to a delicate point in his hand instead. Sousuke hummed, looking away as Ai began using them to pick through the intricate machinery that made up his shoulder. He wasn't usually uncomfortable watching; it actually fascinated him how it all worked to make an arm he could use so easily, but Ai's expression of intense focus made his face feel warm and his stomach unsettled every time and he looked around the shop instead, humming thoughtfully.

“Can't expect you to have experience if no one ever lets you take a look,” he answered slowly, swallowing a grunt when Ai picked at something that made his whole arm light up with a sudden flash of pain. He seemed to notice it anyway, smiling apologetically when Sousuke looked over, still holding the wrench in his mouth.

“You're still compensating for the difference of strength with your left side,” he looked at the wrench and wrinkled his nose, wiping it on his pants with a small giggle. He looked back at Sousuke, tilting his head thoughtfully and ran his fingers over the metal, thinking intently for a moment. “It's causing more strain on your joint.”

“R-right,” he tried to cough to cover the way his voice caught. He could still feel Ai's fingers on his arm, even if it was a different sensation than skin-on-skin. He flipped his right hand over, watching the metal flex with a furrow in his brow. “Does that mean the joint needs a repair again?”

“Well yes,” Ai started, pulling his hand back almost reluctantly. Sousuke grinned slightly, only slightly charmed by how entranced he always seemed by the mechanics that he worked on. “But if you give me a little bit of time I may be able to make some improvements to the design that could solve the problem.”

“Yeah?” He raised an eyebrow but immediately looked away when Ai beamed at him, nodding his head. Part of him was trying to serve a reminder that these visits still cost money, but even Hiroshi hadn't charged him more than he was able to pay comfortably. Instead he gave his shoulder another roll, covering his cringe. “Anything you can do today?”

Ai nodded his head, gathering the box in both hands again and nodding him towards the back room. “I think so.”

The bed was pulled almost to the center of the room, and Ai set the box down by it, tugging a small stool over once Sousuke pulled his shirt off entirely and laid down on his back. There was the small pause that Ai always had before working, where his eyes were soft and he looked focused, but still overwhelmingly open and gentle. He never seemed to notice Sousuke studying him, staring instead at his shoulder. This time Ai jolted out of his thoughts, reaching his hand out and stroking one of the angry looking scars where flesh met with metal.

Sousuke glanced away quickly, feeling his mouth go suddenly dry and trying to remember if he'd felt Ai touch any of his actual skin. He couldn't recall, not with the distraction of it happening now. His breath shivered slightly as he exhaled and Ai pulled his back with a sheepish smile, shaking his head. “S-sorry Yamazaki-san.”

“I-it's no problem,” he responded unevenly, closing his eyes and letting his mind wander when Ai set quietly to work, occasional drifts of humming coming out of his mouth that made Sousuke smile to himself. His shoulder did feel less sore when Ai finished, sitting up and wiping his forehead, spreading a dark streak of grease under his straight bangs. Sousuke stared at it for a beat before turning away and reaching for his shirt. “Thank you. Ask Nitori-san to send me the bill, please.”

“O-of course!” Ai bolted to his feet again, knocking the stool over and causing Sousuke to turn with a confused quirk of his eyebrow. Ai's mouth hung open for a moment, cheeks pink before he shook his head slowly. “C-could you come back in a week? I-I can have the design ready for you then.”

“Sure,” he smiled slowly, flexing his fingers and tossing the blazer over his shoulder, letting Ai trail him out. He was far from dreading another chance to see the cute mechanic, even if a new design would probably hurt his body as much as his wallet.

 

Rin snorted almost as soon as he got to work the next day, wrinkling his nose and glancing at Kisumi leaning on a desk a few feet away before glaring back at Sousuke. “Do you always have to look so gross after you get your arm worked on?”

Sousuke blinked, wondering what exactly 'looking gross' meant in Rin's opinion. He decided not to make any quips about teeth that might start them on an actual argument, shrugging instead and cocking his head. “I don't remember telling you I was going to get it worked on.”

“You don't really have to,” Kisumi grinned around his words, crossing his arms. Sousuke tried to glare at both of them at once, frowning. “It's sort of obvious.”

He rolled his shoulder, rubbing the back of his neck and nodding slowly. “I guess it's not that hard to tell when it's hurting.”

“Yeah, sure,” Rin snorted, turning away and gathering a stack of papers from the desk. Probably something that had to be filled or filed before they could leave for patrol, something that Rin didn't want to do by the looks of it. “It has absolutely nothing to do with your absolutely disgusting crush. That's not the obvious thing.”

Sousuke was about to argue until Kisumi started giggling and nodding his head, grin splitting across his face. He sputtered slightly, taking a step back from both of them and shaking his head. “I don't--”

Rin lifted his head to simply and silently glare, frowning. He probably deserved that look, since he absolutely did even if he would deny it being disgusting. Kisumi stood, slinging an arm around Sousuke's shoulders and giggling again. “Don't argue with us! You need to do something about this situation before it becomes dire.”

“Dire?” He blinked, trying to shove Kisumi's persistent grip off of him. “There's nothing to do about it. I'm just-- one of his clients.”

Rin barked a bitter laugh, looking up with a crooked smirk on his face, shaking his head slowly. Sousuke narrowed his eyes, deeply considering finding something solid he could whack upside Rin's head without causing so much damage that he didn't have a partner anymore; or worse, he had to partner with Kisumi. The latter tried to make his voice soothing, patting Sousuke's shoulder.

“Poor, oblivious man. You need to tell him before someone scoops him up first,” he nodded, violet eyes the perfect picture of seriousness. Sousuke blinked, trying to ignore the jealous twist in his stomach at the very idea of it. “Nitori-san's place has gotten ten times as popular since he came back from school. You can't underestimate the power of someone that cute working on bumbling idiots like you.”

“I am not--” he started, cut off by Rin snorting and nodding his head in agreement.

“I wouldn't be surprised. He probably has tons of clients who lay around half-naked while he tinkers on their parts that are way better flirts than Sousuke,” he agreed solemnly, the spark in his eyes matching Kisumi's perfectly. Sousuke decided he hated them both and that he was entirely without friends now.

“There's no one else trying to 'scoop him up',” he realized his words too late when they both looked at him with devious grins. “I'm not either.”

“You said no one 'else',” Rin was practically purring, Kisumi looked like a cat that had not only caught but successfully devoured the canary. “When's the next time you get your arm fixed Sou~su~ke?”

“He's not interested, it doesn't matter,” he snapped, shaking his head sharply. They both laughed and Kisumi patted his shoulder again before trailing off to hopefully actually work.

“Poor, poor oblivious man,” he purred, leaving Rin bobbing his head in agreement. Sousuke stormed away from the both of them, shaking his head with a rough sigh.

 

The rest of the week followed with even more teasing from his two former best friends, to the point where he absolutely could not be blamed for being excited by the reprieve of going to see Ai again. Or, going to get his arm repaired. Because there was no promise that Ai would actually be doing it, since he was still an apprentice under his father. And it wasn't anything like a date, because this was medical for him and work for Ai.

He was still excited, regardless of the troublesome details. He arrived to find Ai once again sitting out in the attempted waiting room, looking up at him with a beam that could probably power the whole city if he tried. “Yamazaki-san! It's good to see you again, I have everything set up already.”

His hands squeezed together in front of him before he dipped a small bow that made Sousuke's face burn a little, color sitting high on his cheeks. He nodded, swallowing roughly when Ai grabbed his hand gently, tugging him along like Sousuke would be reluctant to follow him anywhere that he asked.

He pulled his shirt and blazer off smoothly, stretching his arms over his head before he noticed that Ai had paused arranging his tools to stare, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open. He snapped it shut quickly, pink migrating from his cheeks to the tips of his ears and creeping down the back of his neck. “Y-you're, um, looking very strong still.”

“Thanks,” he chuckled, laying out on the bed and hissing when Ai disengaged his arm entirely, pulling it into his lap and rolling it over for a moment, cocking his head. “We'll see if you still say that once you're done. Last time I needed a replacement Nitori-san almost had me crying.”

Ai giggled at that, bright and tinkling, pulling the new arm out of a case set on the table to his side. He laid it across his legs, stroking the metal thoughtfully before lifting his hand to rest on the bare skin of Sousuke's chest, stroking the red lines of his scars and ducking his head to brush his lips over each one, eyes gently closed. “I'll do my best, I promise.”


	12. Lead To Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for Therewillbecubes' birthday!

Despite the fact that Rin found it hilarious to say so, Sousuke didn't really get lost all that often. The route of the problem was more the fact that Samezuka was the most confusing school he had even seen. It was impossible to navigate; everything managed to look exactly the same no matter where he wanted to go and it seemed like the distances between places he had to go every day were never consistent. It was impossible. He also absolutely could not tell his childhood friend that he was still getting lost around campus months after transferring. His navigational troubles would stop only because the sheer amount of torment from Rin would kill him.

Instead, he turned to Ai for help. It started as just texting him when he got lost, trying to find a little guidance. Messages like 'i'm under the brick arch and trying to go to the pool.'

These apparently presented a problem for Ai, because no matter how specific he tried to be everything always looked the same and he couldn't be clear enough to help Ai find him for real. It usually ended with the younger swimmer walking up to him with an exasperated smile and guiding him wherever he needed to go. He never complained about it, just kindly instructed what turns to avoid next time. Somewhere along the line he started feeling bad for making Ai take so much time to help him and thanked him with a quick ruffle of his hair or squeeze on the shoulder. Because Ai seemed to appreciate the simple touches, not because he wanted to kiss the kid every time he showed up to play guide dog.

(He did kiss him, though it was when Ai leaned over the edge of the pool and beamed at him and his heart had felt too big for his chest. But Ai was nervous about what people would think of him for dating Sousuke, so he didn't generally kiss him in public.)

Eventually Gou and Ai made him a map that had both his class and all the other places he usually had to go circled on it, and he didn't have the heart to tell them that he had no idea how to read it. He still tried, right up until the stupid thing went missing from his desk.

 

It was impossible for Rin not to notice that Sousuke showed up late for not only lunch and practice, but also class. At first he dismissed it, because he was never late enough to actually get into trouble. But he started showing up for the first two just a little later, with Ai at his elbow and a weird, shy little smile on his face. Honestly, Rin was just worried about his punctual and reliable kouhai being corrupted by whatever made Sousuke so late all the time.

He didn't really get suspicious of what that might be until the map showed up. There were red circles all over it and sometimes he caught Sousuke staring at it like it held the secrets of the universe. He decided, the first day that Sousuke forgot it, to discreetly borrow it and maybe see what exactly the circles were.

Classrooms, mostly. One was the pool, one was Ai's class, the nurse's office, the cafeteria. Honestly, nothing that really needed so much attention drawn to it on the map. With a frown Rin picked the circled spot on the courtyard and strode out to it one afternoon, sitting down with a heavy frown. It was a few minutes before Ai showed up, milling about a few feet away but surprisingly not noticing him sitting there. It wasn't as if Rin was trying to hide.

Ai was instead staring at one of the archways that led to the other side of campus, smiling brightly when Sousuke eventually (ten minutes later), showed up, looking tremendously confused but relieved when he saw Ai. Even from a distance Rin could see his shoulders relax, the smile that climbed across his face. He lifted one large hand, brushing it over the side of Ai's face and saying something that made them both blush. Rin could feel his mouth drop open in surprise but was completely powerless to actually stop it, watching Sousuke take Ai's hand gently rather than do something else like lean in to kiss him. They walked away like that, fingers linked together, Ai's face turned down slightly to hide the way he was blushing.

Well, all the tiny smiles and the way they always seemed to be within a few inches of touching but not quite making it there started making sense in Rin's head all of a sudden. He knew he should be following the both of them to practice, but he was still reeling from the realization that his brain deemed 'sudden', grinning slowly. 

He wondered how long it would take for one of them to slip up and give the secret away entirely.


	13. Beating Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Sousuke doing homework and basically Ai wants attention so he crawls into his boyfriend's lap like a cat. Eventually he just falls asleep there and Sousuke continues to work as if there isn't a tiny baby sleeping right on him.

“What’re you studying?” 

Sousuke blinked, shifting with the intent of simply showing Ai the cover of the anatomy textbook, surprised when the slight lift of his arms ended up with his boyfriend crawling directly into his lap instead, ducking under his elbow and leaning his head on Sousuke’s good shoulder. It was a shockingly agile maneuver, leaving him with his arms wrapped around Ai. 

“Anatomy,” he grumbled into Ai’s hair, resting his chin on the top of his head with a soft laugh. Ai only wiggled a little to get comfortable, legs curling close to his chest, his eyes lazily tracing over the colored diagrams on the page with a small hum sliding past his lips. Sousuke didn’t bother to try and move Ai as he set the book to the side, leaning and pulling his laptop into his lap, rolling his eyes at the soft sound of protest he received for moving at all. “I didn’t realize we were short on furniture all of a sudden.”

“I’m comfy here,” Ai responded, fingers curling into the fabric of Sousuke’s shirt, watching him type for awhile. Even when he couldn’t see Ai’s face he could feel him start to fall asleep, leaning more of his weight back against Sousuke, breathing slower, slumping his head rather than holding it up to actually watch Sousuke write his paper.

He paused in typing to rub a hand up and down Ai’s back slowly, thinking while he enjoyed the bundle of warmth curled in his lap, pressing a kiss to the top of his head and leaving his chin resting there as he started working again, turning the music down slightly to help Ai with his nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really, really short but I just wanted a little domestic prompt fill.


	14. Dance, Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "I’m really sorry, I suck at dancing and you’re supposed to teach me but you’re really cute and keep distracting me so I keep stepping on your feet I’m so sorry."

The whole thing, predictably, was Rin’s fault. It wasn’t even Rin’s wedding that Sousuke had to learn how to dance for, but it was still his fault entirely. He’d suggested both of them get lessons so that they wouldn’t look like idiots when his sister got married, and then bowed out of the idea after Sousuke had already paid for his.

And now he was in a little dance studio, still in his uniform from work, trying to think of the best way to explain that this was a mistake and ask for his money back. He shifted awkwardly, looking around the mirrored room with a grown, body snapping tense when the door in the corner swung open for the person who was presumably there to teach him. He opened his mouth to say– something, and promptly stopped.

The instructor was tiny; barely the height of Sousuke’s shoulder, with a pastel shirt slouched off one shoulder draping past his hips over a pair of unfairly tight leggings. He blinked twice at Sousuke before his face lit into a smile, ruffling his fingers through his hair. “Oh! You’re early Officer.”

His voice positively twinkled and Sousuke rubbed the back of his neck, wishing it wasn’t so hot under his hand, nodding his head slowly. “Y-yeah. I wasn’t sure what I should be wearing for this…”

“Whatever you’re comfortable in is fine,” he beamed before giggling softly and shaking his head. “Sorry– I’m Aiichirou, I probably should’ve started with that. You wanted to learn for a wedding, right?”

“Y-yeah, right,” his smile faltered when Ai stepped into his space, nodding and placing one of Sousuke’s hands on his shoulders, bringing the other to the curve of his side without seeming at all perturbed by the contact.

“Well since you’re so tall your fiance must be shorter than you,” Ai giggled, nodding his head. “I’ll start out leading so you can get a feel for it and then let you take over.”

“I-it’s not my wedding,” Sousuke blurted out, possibly too loudly. Ai blinked, lifting his gaze up from Sousuke’s feet, cocking his head curiously. “I-it’s um, my best friend’s sister.”

“Oh!” Was it just his imagination or did Ai’s voice sound brighter after hearing that? The tiny instructor smiled, going back to explaining the steps.

 

Sousuke was not good at dancing. It didn’t help that every lesson he was less and less focused on the actual mechanics and more on just getting to put his hands on Ai, admire the small trail of freckles he could see sliding down the back of his neck with his height vantage, smell whatever shampoo he used in his hair. He always faltered, missed a step, ended up tramping on Ai’s foot and making himself look like a huge oaf. 

Ai bit his lip around a slight hiss and Sousuke lifted his foot quickly, cursing at himself while Ai shook his head and squinted out a smile. “You really are getting much better.”

“You’re lying,” Sousuke laughed when Ai sighed and nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s possible I considered trying to find your friends and telling them to uninvite you for the sake of feet everywhere,” Ai looked up with a smile pulling his lips upward and Sousuke wasn’t sure that his heart was even still beating. “Not everyone is as easy going about it as I am.”

“Then you should come with me,” he tried to make the offer sound casual, swallowing his nerves to the pit of his stomach and smiling at the surprise on the instructors face. “T-that way everyone else will be safe from my uh, dancing.”

“Well when you put it that way,” Ai smiled, sliding a piece of paper from his pocket and tucking it behind Sousuke’s ear, leaning up and pecking his cheek gently. “I’ve only been waiting for three lessons for you to ask, since we’re done with the ones you actually paid me for.”


	15. Keep No Score

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thing You Said When You Thought I Was Asleep

Sousuke isn’t particularly good with words. He’s not awful, he can align them in sentences and paragraphs and sometimes make them mean the things he wants to, but he’s not good. This is how he comes to not quite saying things, with Ai curled up asleep, head pillowed on his chest and shirt still discarded and forgotten somewhere in the room.

There’s a single shaft of lazy moonlight coming through the space between the curtains and it falls on him off-kilter; lighting part of his cheek, the mole under his eye, a chunk of light hair. Sousuke wants to find a way to make words work for him, but his voice feels stuck. Instead, he uses the hand that had been resting on Ai’s back, tracing patterns light as air into his skin.

_I Love You._

_I Love You._

_I Love You._

It’s like a test run. The words are still there; they can fine neatly into line and maybe when he makes them into sounds instead of slow spelling against skin they’ll mean what he wants. Ai doesn’t open his eyes but his fingers curl tighter and he smiles slowly.

“Love you too.”


	16. Thirst No More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soutori Vampire au- warnings for mentions of blood/consensual blood drinking

It starts with a phone call that Sousuke frowns his entire way through. There's something loose in the city; something new leaving a trail of people pale and drained and confused behind it. That alone left few questions about what Sousuke was looking for, and if anything it made him less excited at the prospect of taking the job; vampires were an eternal pain in the ass to hunt. He wasn't a fan of having to get into the personal space of something with sharp teeth and a bad attitude-- especially not with the sole mission of hacking its head off.

But what he found was not exactly what he was expecting; the vampire was little more than a kid hiding out in a shitty apartment building after getting attacked and turned when his friends took him clubbing for his birthday. He looked up at Sousuke with a wobbly smile when he kicked the door in, curled up on the one battered couch in the room and hugging his knees to his chest. “Are you here to kill me?”

He doesn't lift his head to see Sousuke nod, resting his forehead on his legs and curling up tighter like he wants to hide from the world. Sousuke frowns, wondering if this is some kind of ruse, if the kid thinks making him feel bad will save his life, but he doesn't make any move to attack. Instead he sniffles against his legs before lifting his face up, makes Sousuke face the fact that he's actually fucking crying for whatever reason. He rubs the long sleeve of his shirt at his eyes, blinking and making more tears sink down his pale cheeks. “I'm Aiichirou-- people call me Ai...”

“S-Sousuke,” his answer comes out uneven; he's never had a monster introduce itself before. Ai nods his head and stares at the knife still in Sousuke's hand, biting his lip and making the sharp points of his fangs stand out against the plush set of his mouth. He seems to be silently grappling with something before he slides his feet back to the floor, pushing himself up slowly.

His instincts tell him that he should be tensed, should be anticipating an attack or a fight, but Ai stops well within his reach, breathing in slow and uneven before dropping his shoulders, slumping inwards. More than the scabbed puncture mark on his neck, Sousuke notices that he's wearing a sweatshirt with a robotic cat on it, it hangs baggy off his slender body. It makes him look dramatically frail, like Sousuke could break him in half without even trying. He reaches a hand out, shaking the sleeve away from his fingers and grabbing gently around Sousuke's wrist, pulling so the blade rests against the junction of his shoulder, blinking more tears down his cheeks. “It's okay. I.. I understand. It's okay--”

The entire thing makes him feel sick in a way that he didn't think these jobs could anymore and he drops the blade like it's burning his hand, frowning when it clatters to the floor and Ai's fingers don't unlatch from his arm. His mouth drops open slightly, shaped in confusion and Sousuke grips his chin instead, forcing him to look up and meet the steel in his eyes, trying not to let himself worry about holding him too tight. “If you hurt someone I will kill you.”

* * *

This is the single stupidest thing he's ever done in his life, and Sousuke was trying to reason with himself whether knowing it makes it more or less stupid. Not only has he not killed him, but he's at the point of letting the fucking vampire kid stay with him. He wandered around in the early mornings looking dazed and sleepy and wearing one of Sousuke's shirts and hopefully something under it, but it dipped so low on his thighs that he couldn't actually tell. He's stubbornly trying to stick to sleeping on a normal schedule and ended up always groggy early in the day because of it. He leaned over the table as soon as Sousuke glanced away, stealing sips of his coffee and wrinkling his nose every time.

“Why do you keep drinking that when you don't like it?” He sighed, giving in and just passing the mug into Ai's slender fingers, shaking his head in annoyance that he had to force at this point. Ai beamed, and he wasn't even concerned by the fangs in his mouth, just the way it crinkled his eyes and showed off his little beauty mark.

“It's just funny, I guess. I used to love coffee,” Ai shrugged his shoulders, staring down into the mug with a little smile on his face. Sousuke didn't know exactly how to answer the nostalgic sadness in his voice-- he's never spent time with anyone on the other side of this kind of transformation. Up until Ai his life had consisted of mostly arguing with Rin and killing monsters that were a threat to the public. He still couldn't make himself see Ai as a threat to anyone; mostly he milled around the house and sat in the sunbeams that drifted lazy through Sousuke's curtains because he missed being out during the day. More than anything he was like a large, bloodthirsty cat. 

He passed Sousuke's coffee back with a little sigh after drawing a finger around the rim and licking the last drops off it, wrinkling his nose. Something about Ai made him wish he had some ability to be comforting in this situation; to tell him honestly that somehow it would get easier for him, that there was some kind of life he could lead and really enjoy. He didn't say anything about it because in reality he still wasn't sure he wouldn't have to cut his pretty head off in the end.

But with Ai cooped up safely in his apartment, he has a long stretch of time between jobs that leads to him dozing off on the couch after putting on a movie he'd seen time and time again before; Ai had been in the shower when he started, but he woke to the cool prod of a nose against his neck, dragging over his skin and inhaling softly. He jerked mostly out of reflex, sighing when he looked over at Ai crouched on the couch, leaning towards him with his face bright red in embarrassment. He had been nearly on all fours but leaned back quickly onto his legs, sitting atop his calves and holding his hands up.

“I-I'm so sorry! I w-wasn't going to—” he cut himself off and swallowed so hard that Sousuke could see his throat bob. He shook his head once more, silver bangs spilling over his eyes and hiding the way they've shrunken to slits. He stared down at his legs again, hunching his shoulders inward. “I wouldn't do anything without your permission.”

This was really what made it so stupid-- the moment when he sat up with a slow yawn and just patted his leg with a roll of his eyes, like Ai was a pet he was trying to call over. Still Ai lifted his head slowly, throat bobbing around another ragged swallow that Sousuke couldn't help but watch. He shrugged at his bewildered expression. “It's fine. You're hungry right?”

Ai nodded, his face flushing further at the suggestion. Idly, Sousuke wondered how that was possible when his heart had stopped beating. He crawled his way hesitantly into Sousuke's lap, not quite straddling him but pressed so close that everything felt strangely intimate. Ai's lips grazed slightly on his skin as he pulled Sousuke's shirt out of the way, breath puffing surprisingly warm over his shoulder. He inhaled a slow breath again, almost jolting out of whatever focused rhythm he had built when Sousuke laid a hand at the small of his back to help keep him steady, unable to miss the little tremors rolling down his spine.

Sousuke left his hand resting at the small vampire’s back when his sharp teeth dug into the side of his neck, well away from the thrumming of his pulse, helping him perch cool and comfortable on his lap. He could feel the flutter of eyelashes against the side of his neck, the vibrating hum of contentment that followed the first slow draws of blood from his veins; it was starting to become worrying how little this hurt after the first time, Ai’s careful bites piercing his skin and only drawing enough to make him feel just shy of dizzy.

He unlatched slowly and dragged the tip of his tongue over the shallow wound to catch the last bubbles of blood, peeking up with a small smile and drawing his tongue over his red-stained lips, cocking his head slightly, “are you still gonna kill me, Sousuke?”

He didn't answer, just stared for a moment before lifting one unsteady hand to brush over Ai's mouth, making him blink in shy surprise before cupping the side of his jaw and leaning forward to kiss him slowly.


	17. Crowd Of Corpses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Wake up! Please, please wake up."

Ai knows he’s grown a little spoiled by the mentorship that he gets from Sousuke. He’s incredibly grateful for it, of course, because out of all the recruits in his class he needs the most improvement to actually join the Paranormal Defence Corps and without Sousuke helping him he would never have even made it this far.

Far enough to be standing next to him in the field, if only because he was one of the few in their small training group with natural sight, rather than the need for artificial glasses or a sightstone, meaning he can scout quickly and more accurately than the rest of them can. He’s even got a proper weapon in his hands, a pistol loaded with silver-cased bullets. Momo had stared at it with wide eyes when Sousuke put it into his hands and nodded his head and told Ai to get ready for a job.

Now, though, wasn’t the time to be thinking about Momo, or even really about Sousuke, though the awareness of being on a team with the leader that he most admires isn’t something he can entirely put out of his mind. He tries to use it to drive himself instead. The old subways have somehow filled up with corpses stolen from graves nearby and infused with shards of the same spirit, commanded by a far away necromancer.

It’s the same technique more commonly used to reanimate huge flocks of birds, and it makes the zombies slow-moving and stupid, only able to shuffle in huge waves down the abandoned tracks, arms outstretched, jaws working around air with crackling groans. Ai can barely focus over the echoing sound, and he can see the weak aura floating off each one of them, a single soul severed into over a hundred pieces.

His job isn’t to try and fight any of this horde– instead he and Sousuke are meant to track down and stop the necromancer commanding them. It’s harder, and it requires Ai to stop staring at the shuffling crowd closing in towards them and focus instead over their heads, frowning slightly.

“"I- I can see some of the residues, but it’s going out through the wall,” Ai looks over at Sousuke with a slight frown, pointing to one of the arched stone walls, a faint black trail lifting from the crowd and passing through the wall. He isn’t sure if Sousuke can see it or not, but he nods, easing a step back and nudging his shoulder against Rin’s.

“We’re gonna try and cut this off at the source, you take charge here,” his voice is even and commanding and Rin nods without breaking his focus, shifting the grip on his katana with a sharp grin.

“Thanks for leaving me the hard work to do,” he shoots back and Sousuke rolls his eyes, following Ai down the tunnel the other direction. The black streak in the air gets thicker as they weave through the maze-like series of tunnels, and Ai can feel the choking pressure of black magic starting to close in on him. He coughs into his sleeve, hoping it goes unnoticed.

It doesn’t, Sousuke stops mid-step and frowns at him, raising an eyebrow. “I forgot you were sensitive to this. Are you alright?”

Ai shrugs, because he’s not sure if he is or not. The air tastes like blood in his mouth and there’s a buzzing in his head that’s making it start to ache, but at least he can ignore it. “You need me to find the way, right?”

Sousuke grunts like he wants to say no to that, despite the both of them knowing the truth and Ai gives him a small smile, dropping his arm slowly and nodding his head. “I’m here to do my job, sir. Don’t worry about me!”

“Be quick about it then, Nitori,” Sousuke says but he has the hint of a smile in return that makes Ai brighten further. He can handle this, and he can use it to prove himself to Sousuke and the rest of them, that he belongs on their team, even if it’s just as a scout.

But the closer they get to the necromancer, the worse Ai starts to feel. His head goes from buzzing to feeling like there’re claws raking across his brain over and over, but he can’t make his feet stop moving. He’s slower than before, and Sousuke has to have noticed because he’s saying something but Ai can’t translate the sound into words.

Something warm and damp drips out of his nose, the consistency feels like blood but when it rests on his lips the taste is all wrong. He turns back to Sousuke, confused, still stepping forward at an awkward pace that he can’t stop. Sousuke is staring at him, mouth hanging open slightly, reaching a hand out. “Ai! Listen to me. I need you to focus on my voice.”

Ai obeys the best that he can, finally making his feet stop moving forward, blinking his eyes furiously when it feels like the whole world is shifting under his feet, his stomach churning. He lifts his arm, wiping black away from his nose and mouth, staring at it in confusion. Sousuke is still holding his hand out and Ai struggles to make the heavy weight of his tongue obey. “Sou- suke? What’s happening?”

“Whatever spell is being cast–,” Sousuke’s voice is tense, and if Ai didn’t know him better he would call the tone fear. His words trail off again and Ai blinks his head, but turns around again. Sousuke’s right, he needs to focus and find the necromancer so they can stop the spell.

He starts walking again, ignoring that every step gets harder to take because Sousuke is gripping his arm and trying to hold him still or pull him back. Ai can’t stop, he has to find the source. The claws have sunk into his brain and are pulling him forward even with Sousuke’s weight making him slow and unsteady. More black fluid drips out of his nose and down his chin, but Ai can ignore that too.

He has to do his job, to prove to Sousuke how well he can do. If he finds the necromancer they’ll let him be a part of the squad, they’ll see how hard he works and how much he has to offer. Ai smiles, his vision still clear and sharp when he sees the black figure sitting on top of a broken subway car, legs hanging over the edge and a bone mask obscuring his face. There’s a ruff of black feathers around his shoulders and even with the mask covering it, Ai can feel him smile.

He doesn’t jump down, and Sousuke’s arms wrap tightly around Ai when he stops moving, lifting him away from the ground, mouth moving against Ai’s ear now. “We have to get out of here now.”

Out? Ai can’t leave. He has to be here. He can’t remember why, can’t understand why Sousuke wants to stop him. He’s going to accomplish something now, isn’t he? There’s a whisper in the back of his mind telling him that’s true and he wants to give in and listen to it.

But Sousuke is still holding him in the air, turning away, physically carrying Ai back. He struggles then, clawing at Sousuke’s arms where they lock tightly around his waist. He can feel the vibrations in his throat of shouts rending his throat raw, but he can’t actually hear his own voice. 

Sousuke sets him back on the ground but keeps him pinned against one of the crumbling walls, his eyes wide, desperate, one hand holding Ai’s wrists together, forcing them still. “Wake up! Please, please wake up.”

Ai’s brain feels like it’s tearing in half– the claws still hooked in and trying to pull him back, trying to command his legs to move, to pull him away from Sousuke. But he doesn’t want to move, or to leave. Sousuke doesn’t let go of his wrists but leans forward so more of his body is pressed into Ai’s, his weight overwhelming. There’s another dampness, this time on Ai’s cheek and he isn’t sure of the source, only of Sousuke’s voice cracking in his ear. “I’m sorry Ai– I’m so sorry.”

Things go black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what this is but I want more of it.


End file.
